WhatsApp today opposed a statement in Delhi High Court alleging that the privacy of its users has been threatened by a new privacy policy announced by Facebook, saying that the regulations were in force and that the latter does not have access to any data anymore. it provides end to end
encryption
WhatsApp had made major changes to its privacy policy on August 25, the first time since it was acquired by Facebook, giving users the option to share their account information with the social media giant. The messaging service gave its users 30 days until September 25 to choose not to participate in the policy.
The presentation was made before a bank of the president of the court G Rohini and the judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, who heard a PIL against the recent WhatsApp decision to share user data with the parent company Facebook.
Chief advocate Siddharth Luthra, who appears for WhatsApp, said that there are government regulations and that the app does not share private messages, content, photos or user data with Facebook.
He said that WhatsApp only shares a user's name and phone number with
Facebook. "WhatsApp does not have access to any data as it provides end-to-end encryption."
& # 39; WhatsApp share data with Facebook is not surprising & # 39;
Facebook has a long history of policies and decisions that go directly against the idea of online privacy for users. This includes everything from lawsuits accusing the social media giant of posting user data on its platform without its consent to the policy of having to use "real names" in profiles.
"We only have access to the person's name and number, which is also obtained by online consent. We comply with central government regulations for messaging applications. We are not dealing with confidential information at all," Luthra said, adding that " if there is a user who wants to choose not to participate in the new policy, they cannot be forced not to choose that option ".
For this, the court asked WhatsApp to present a brief affidavit before September 20 explaining the factual position regarding the concerns raised in the judicial petition.
However, lead attorney Pratibha M Singh, who appeared for petitioners Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, argued that the courier service was sharing all the data with
Facebook even if users choose not to participate in the new policy.
The petitioners, users of the popular instant messaging service, have alleged that the new private policy of WhatsApp, Facebook Inc and Facebook India Online Pvt Ltd "compromises the rights of its users", which is also a "very serious violation of the policy "
.