WhatsApp told the Delhi High Court on Friday that until the government passes the Data Protection Bill, which specifies how such data can be processed, it will not force users to accept its controversial new privacy policy or limit functionality for those who refuse. ‘We voluntarily agreed to put it (the new policy) on hold… we will not force people to accept,’ WhatsApp’s senior lawyer Harish Salve told the court.
‘In the coming weeks, we will not restrict WhatsApp’s functionality. Instead, we will continue to remind users about the update on a regular basis… we will maintain this approach at least until the upcoming PDP law takes effect,’ the company said in a statement released after the hearing.
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The court was hearing a challenge to a CCI (Competition Commission of India) investigation filed by the instant messaging platform and its parent company, Facebook. Last month, the CCI sent out notices requesting more information about the policy. The court refused to stay the CCI notices at a previous hearing.
WhatsApp argued that the notices ‘smelled of overreach,’ because the information it sought was already in the hands of a different bench of the same court. The court was also reminded that related challenges were still pending before the Supreme Court and the court itself.
Mr Salve told the court today: ‘CCI is investigating a policy that I (WhatsApp) put on hold. CCI cannot say or investigate anything if Parliament allows me to share data (under the Data Protection Bill). We have already put our updated privacy policy on hold till the bill is passed.
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