SC set to hear WhatsApp case from May 12
February 07, 2017A Special Leave Petition was filed by Karmanya Singh and Shreya Sethi, against the Delhi HC’s September 2016 order alleged that WhatsApp illegally shares the data with Facebook. The HC had directed WhatsApp to delete the data up to September 25 last year for those users who opted to completely delete their accounts before that date, and not share the same with the Facebook or any of its group companies.
Similarly, for the users who opt to remain in WhatsApp, their existing information upto September 25, 2016 shall not be shared with Facebook, the High Court had directed.
The High Court also directed the authorities to take an appropriate decision at the earliest as to whether it is feasible to bring the same under the statutory regulatory framework.
On 6th February, 17 the divisional bench of Supreme Court, comprised of the Chief Justice of India, J.S.Khehar and Justice N.V.Ramana, prepared the road map for the hearing of the Special Leave Petition, seeking to protect the privacy of WhatsApp users from May 12, during the summer vacation. Senior counsel, Kapil Sibal, is going to assist the court during the summer vacation for hearing the case.
Kapil Sibal told the bench he was more concerned with the rights of the consumers of WhatsApp, and there is a need to fully secure their rights. The bench then said the pleadings in the case may be completed within the next six weeks, and asked the counsel to respond to the petition within six weeks. “Those not filing within six weeks, will be disentitled to file their responses later”, the bench made it clear.
Similarly, for the users who opt to remain in WhatsApp, their existing information upto September 25, 2016 shall not be shared with Facebook, the High Court had directed.
The High Court also directed the authorities to take an appropriate decision at the earliest as to whether it is feasible to bring the same under the statutory regulatory framework.
On 6th February, 17 the divisional bench of Supreme Court, comprised of the Chief Justice of India, J.S.Khehar and Justice N.V.Ramana, prepared the road map for the hearing of the Special Leave Petition, seeking to protect the privacy of WhatsApp users from May 12, during the summer vacation. Senior counsel, Kapil Sibal, is going to assist the court during the summer vacation for hearing the case.
Kapil Sibal told the bench he was more concerned with the rights of the consumers of WhatsApp, and there is a need to fully secure their rights. The bench then said the pleadings in the case may be completed within the next six weeks, and asked the counsel to respond to the petition within six weeks. “Those not filing within six weeks, will be disentitled to file their responses later”, the bench made it clear.
OUR TAKE
Last year WhatsApp has updated its global privacy policy, under which it would share phone numbers of users with its parent company, Facebook. This posed an immediate to every user’s right to privacy. The court will hear the case regarding the same during summer vacations with the assistance of Kapil Sibal.
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