After WhatsApp introduced new privacy settings for the Indian users a lot of problems have emerged for the company. Also, the privacy settings that mandates the Indian users to agree to the change or else stop using the app, is not something they have implemented in countries like Europe. It is why the government had to intervene and a special committee was created to talk about these issues with WhatsApp. Now, Delhi High Court will be hearing a plea today, which challenges the new privacy policy of WhatsApp and violates the privacy of individuals.
As per the plea, WhatsApp has put a “Damocles sword on its users and updated policy virtually scrutinizes the personal profile of a user by 360 degrees.” The plea was filed by the advocate Chaitanya Rohilla and he mentions that the changes by WhatsApp also jeopardizes the national security of the country by sharing, transmitting, and storing the user’s data in another country. As per the details in the plea, “WhatsApp has made a mockery out of our fundamental right to privacy while discharging a public function in India, besides jeopardizing the national security of the country by sharing, transmitting and storing the user’s data in some other country.
There remains a possibility that that foreign country might be a hostile country to India.” Although WhatsApp has now extended the February 8 deadline to May, the issue still seems to persist for the giant. Since the changes, WhatsApp has lost a large number of its users in the Indian market and people have been selecting alternatives like Telegram and Signal.