The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a stern rebuke to Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, over its privacy policy, raising concerns about its clarity and potential exploitation of Indian citizens. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya, questioned whether the policy could be understood by India’s millions of poor and uneducated users.
During the hearing, the court addressed a petition challenging WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, which had previously been upheld by a company law tribunal that fined Meta Rs 213 crore, as well as a cross-appeal by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding data sharing for advertising.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta criticized WhatsApp’s data-sharing practices, deeming them “exploitative,” especially in terms of commercial use. In response, the Chief Justice emphasized the importance of safeguarding citizens’ privacy, stating, “If you can’t follow our Constitution, leave India. We won’t allow citizens’ privacy to be compromised.”
The court made pointed remarks about the policy’s comprehensibility, questioning whether someone from a rural or uneducated background could understand it. “A poor woman or a roadside vendor, or someone who only speaks Tamil—will they be able to understand?” the bench asked.
The court also scrutinized the use of an ‘opt-out’ clause, with the Chief Justice remarking, “Sometimes even we have difficulty understanding your policies… so how will people living in rural Bihar understand them? This is a way of committing theft of private information. We won’t allow it.”
The hearing concluded with the Chief Justice sharing his own experience as a benchmark for clarity and transparency in privacy policies, signaling a firm stance against potential misuse of user data by tech giants like Meta.