WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy and Data Protection Law

The central government recently issued a notice to WhatsApp to withdraw its updated privacy policy. But this is a clear government intervention into a legitimate business decision.

• WhatsApp updated its privacy policy earlier this year. Under this policy, WhatsApp can share data (such as location and number) with its parent company Facebook unless they delete their accounts altogether. The App initially proposed a February 8 deadline.
• This attracted harsh criticisms from the government and experts. Further, there was also an exodus of user migration to rival platforms such as, Signal.
• WhatsApp moved the deadline to May 15. Eventually, WhatsApp decided not to enforce the policy itself.

Significance/Impacts: WhatsApp is not the only one, private apps such as Google, BigBasket, Koo, and public apps such as Aarogya Setu, Bhim, IRCTC, and others also use similar privacy policies.

• India did not have General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR like the EU: The government instead of seeking a response from companies has to enact a data protection law in line with the GDPR.