3 months ago
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Instant messaging level WhatsApp maintained successful the Supreme Court connected Monday (February 23, 2026) that it is not “quite right” to say the online entity is sharing information with different Meta platforms.
Appearing earlier a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, elder advocator Kapil Sibal, for WhatsApp and genitor institution Meta, said its exertion was precise wide and enactment a premium connected privacy. “There is nary question of violating the law,” Mr. Sibal submitted.
He further submitted that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, comprehensively addressed the privateness concerns raised successful the Supreme Court.
The tribunal was proceeding petitions filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) determination to uphold a ₹213.14 crore punishment imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
The CCI had recovered WhatsApp’s ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ attack successful its 2021 privateness argumentation an maltreatment of its marketplace dominance. It recovered the anterior consent sought from users to stock their information with Meta “manufactured”. It had concluded that users were forced to stock information for continued entree to WhatsApp messaging services.
In an entreaty past year, the NCLAT concluded that the “core rule is to region exploitation by restoring idiosyncratic choice”.
“The users tin beryllium fixed prime if users clasp the close to determine what information is collected from them, for which purposes, and for however long. We had besides stated successful our findings that immoderate non-essential postulation oregon cross-use (like advertizing etc.) tin hap lone with the acrophobic user’s explicit and revocable consent,” the NCLAT had observed.
On Monday (February 23, 2026), WhatsApp said it would afloat comply with the NCLAT directions relating to idiosyncratic consent for sharing information with genitor institution Meta nether its arguable 2021 privateness argumentation by March 16, 2026. The tribunal had, however, recovered the CCI’s five-year prohibition connected sharing information for advertisement purposes “redundant”, considering that the idiosyncratic had already been fixed a prime to opt successful oregon out.
WhatsApp has filed a broad affidavit explaining its exertion of end-to-end encryption, pursuing scathing oral remarks from the Bench successful the erstwhile proceeding connected February 3.
The Bench had cautioned that it would not licence the level and Meta to breach the close to privateness of millions of their “silent consumers” successful India done the sharing and commercialized exploitation of idiosyncratic data. It had adjacent compared sharing of backstage information to a “decent mode of committing theft”.
Though WhatsApp and Meta had protested that users could ‘opt out’ of the data-sharing provision, the tribunal had persisted successful its criticism.
Senior advocator Madhavi Goradia Divan, for CCI, said determination was besides a contention instrumentality interest attached to the case.
“Data-sharing has galore facets. One whitethorn beryllium privateness and information protection. But determination is different aspect, protecting marketplace and consumer, which stands connected a wholly antithetic footing,” Ms. Divan submitted.
