WhatsApp Is A Private App, One Can Use Some Other App If Does Not Agree With New Policy: Delhi High Court

On a plea challenging the new updated policy of WhatsApp, the Delhi High Court on Monday remarked that WhatsApp is a private app and in case anyone has a problem, he or she can use some other app, reports LiveMint.

The court also observed that accepting the new privacy policy of the popular messaging app WhatsApp was a voluntary thing.

"It is a private app. Don't join it. It is a voluntary thing, don't accept it. Use some other app," Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said to the petitioner Chirag Rohilla, who had challenged the new updated policy of WhatsApp.

The court observed that if the terms and conditions of many mobile apps are read, one would be surprised at what all one is consenting to.

"Even Google maps captures all your data and stores it," the court said.

As the central government also agreed with the court that the issue needs to be analysed, the issue will be listed on 25 January for consideration.

Representing WhatsApp and Facebook, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi told the court that private chat messages between family and friends would remain encrypted and cannot be stored by WhatsApp even under the new policy.

Recently, Web messaging app WhatsApp came under fire over its new data sharing policy. Following widespread criticism, WhatsApp has clarified that no personal messaging data will be monitored, stored or shared. It had claimed that the updated policy pertains to how businesses use data for customer service.

On Friday (15 January), WhatsApp announced that it has decided to postpone a privacy update by three months due to "misinformation causing concern" among its users.

With over 400 million people who use the messaging app to communicate with their friends and family, India is the largest market in terms of users for WhatsApp.