WhatsApp’s privacy policy is not retracted; CCI poll must go on, Delhi HC tells
New Delhi:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday told the Delhi High Court that WhatsApp’s updated 2021 privacy policy has not yet been withdrawn and its investigation related to the policy will be withdrawn. allowed to continue.
The CCI also said the scope of its investigation does not overlap with an alleged user privacy violation pending before the Supreme Court.
CCI filed before a bench led by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma on appeals by WhatsApp LLC and Facebook Inc against a judge’s order to dismiss their challenge to the investigation requested by CCI in the up-to-date privacy book of instant messaging platform.
The bench, which also includes Justice Subramonium Prasad, reserved the order of appeal after hearing the parties involved.
In January last year, CCI decided to review WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy based on similar related news reports.
WhatsApp and Facebook then challenged the CCI sole judge’s order in March 2021 to direct an investigation against them, saying the matter regarding their new policy was pending review in court. High Court and Supreme Court.
However, the sole judge on April 22 last year refused to block the CCI-directed investigation.
Additional Attorney General (ASG) N Venkataraman, appearing for CCI, argued that the CCI’s investigation into the privacy policy – “still valid and active” – should not be delayed any further. the Supreme Court’s decision, especially in the absence of any cases under the sole judge’s order, and asserts that the messaging platform is still issuing “pop-ups” to seek consensus. opinion of users who have not accepted the update policy.
Mr. Debate. The ASG says that violations on the competition law front are still possible because there are users who have chosen to update the policy and “within a non-retractable period” the policy must be “checked”. ASG Balbir Singh, also appearing for CCI, defended the initiation of the investigation against Facebook as well as regarding WhatsApp’s privacy policy, saying that the company was previously the parent company of the messaging platform and it could “potentially exploit the data being shared”.
ASG Venkataraman argued that the outcome of the Supreme Court proceedings would not be relevant to competition law proceedings regarding the abuse of a company’s dominant position in the market.
He also said that unless there is lack of authority or lack of authority, or arbitrariness, the CCI investigation cannot be stalled.
Attorney Tejas Karia, appearing for WhatsApp, said that the “status quo” is being maintained for users who have not opted in to the policy update and that the CCI investigation should be adjourned as the validity of the privacy policy is ongoing. examined before the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court.
Last week, senior supporter Harish Salve, representing WhatsApp, filed that it was challenging CCI’s jurisdiction to probe a policy that has now been upheld and because the government is in the process of bringing it up. the Data Protection Bill.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Facebook Inc –now Meta Platforms – argued that there was not even preliminary documentation of the incident and that the CCI could not investigate it in an “escalating fashion”.
While dismissing the petitions against the CCI investigation, the sole judge held that although CCI would be “cautious” to await the outcome of the petitions in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court. Delhi seniors are against WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, but failing to do so will not make the regulator’s order “wrong” or “want to have jurisdiction”.
The CCI argued before a single judge that WhatsApp’s new privacy policy would lead to excessive data collection and “stalking” of consumers for targeted advertising to attract more users. and therefore, accused of abusing a dominant position.
On January 3, while resolving appeals against the sole judge’s order, a bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel extended the time it took to send Facebook and WhatsApp replies to two CCI notices on Jan. June 2021, asking them to provide certain information for an investigation it conducts.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a collaborative feed.)
