Won’t compel users to accept new privacy policy: WhatsApp to Delhi high court

The High Court of Delhi heard WhatsApp’s plea challenging the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) enquiry into the updated privacy policy of WhatsApp on Friday, reported NDTV.

The social networking site informed the court that they voluntarily put the updated privacy policy on hold.

WhatsApp was responding to a petition filed against its new privacy policy in an Indian court.

The policy aims for user surveillance and threatens India's security, the petition filed in January said.

Read more: WhatsApp's new privacy policy challenged in India

The government had asked WhatsApp to shut down the policy amid concerns.

However, senior advocate Harish Salve told the court that the CCI was enquiring into the policy put on hold.

“If Parliament allows me to share data (Data Protection Bill) then CCI cannot say or probe anything. We have already put our updated privacy policy on hold till the Data Protection Bill," the advocate for WhatsApp said.

Read more: WhatsApp's new privacy policy faces probe by India

WhatsApp had recently given its users an ultimatum to sign up for the updated privacy policy or lose their accounts.

The defendant said in court that functionality would not be limited for users who aren’t opting for the new privacy policy in the meantime.

“We will not compel people to accept [the policy]," the advocate told the DHC.

WhatsApp, however, will continue to display updates of the policy to its users until the Data Protection Bill comes into effect.

WhatsApp maintains that the new policy was to implement the e-commerce features in the app and will not affect a user’s private chat with family and friends.