Delhi High Court has adjourned the hearing on Facebook and WhatsApp appeals against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe into the WhatsApp privacy policy. The decision came after senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for Facebook and WhatsApp, said that the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 is pending and that the issue can be considered once the law is in force.
Salve said, “If we have the bill (till the next date of hearing), good. Else decide it on the basis of the law as it is.” The court also extended the interim order granting time to Facebook and WhatsApp to file their replies to the CCI notices seeking certain information for inquiry purposes.
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The Delhi High Court also expressed its concern over the alleged user data sharing by Facebook with several other companies. The two judge-bench comprising Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Poonam Bhamba noted that “every citizen has a concern” about data sharing.
Referring to the British company Cambridge Analytica, which is under scanner for alleged illegal data mining of Facebook users, Justice Shakdher said the case “weighs heavily on us”. The court also noted that it was “concerned” about Facebook’s ability predict user behavior at any point of time.
Justice Shakdher said, “Cambridge Analytica said they have 5,000 data points on every citizen in America. That means they can predict what you are going to do in a particular action?”
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Senior advocate Salve said WhatsApp “does not look at messages” and only has “external information” like phone number and volume of trade. He added that one puts their life in the public domain on Facebook.
He further noted that as stated by WhatsApp earlier, it will not force users to opt for the updated privacy policy till the data protection law comes into force. He also mentioned that when the Parliament is “seized” of the issue, the question of the CCI continuing with its own probe into the policy does not arise.
