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Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Response on WhatsApp Facebook Data Sharing

Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Response on WhatsApp-Facebook Data Sharing 6te65

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 31 August 2016 10:28 IST

Highlights

WhatsApp updated its earlier this month
It has, thus, stirred a controversy among the s
Delhi HC has asked govt. to submit replies by September 14

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WhatsApp's recent decision to share data with parent company Facebook has reached the doorstep of the Delhi High Court, which sought the government's response on the modification of the new . 1r2d6y

In a controversial move, the popular messaging platform has said it will begin "coordinating" s with Facebook by sharing s' mobile phone numbers and device information with Facebook. It is, however, giving s a 30-day window to opt out of sharing their details.

(Also see: How to Stop WhatsApp From Sharing Your Details With Facebook)

The plans of WhatsApp - which has long promised to safeguard the privacy of more than 1 billion s -- had rung alarm bells among privacy advocates.

Following a petition by two s, a High Court bench issued notice to the Centre, asking the concerned authorities to file their reply by September 14.

The petition had alleged that WhatsApp, Facebook Inc and Facebook India Online Private Limited's new private policy "compromises the rights of its s".

The current is in "stark contrast" to the one from July 7, 2012, the petition read. The revised policy of August 25, 2016, "severely compromises the rights of its s and makes the privacy rights of s completely vulnerable," the plea alleged.

The new policy, which is likely to come into force from September 25, has sought to change the "most valuable, basic and essential feature" of WhatsApp, the petition read.

It "unilaterally" threatened to "take away the protection to privacy of details and data of its s and sharing the same with Facebook and all its group companies including for the purpose of commercial advertising and marketing".

Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocates Sandeep Sethi and Pratibha M Singh, called it a "very serious breach of policy".

The manner of taking consent was "highly deceptive in as much as almost the entire community of s of WhatsApp in India are not equipped to even read, much less comprehend" the and conditions, they said.

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Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Response on WhatsApp-Facebook Data Sharing 6te65

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