WhatsApp Privacy Policy to be on hold till Data Privacy Bill takes effect: Salve tells Delhi HC
New Delhi: The instant messaging app WhatsApp Friday told the Delhi High Court that it would not compel users to opt for a new privacy policy till a data protection bill comes into force.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve submitted today on behalf of WhatsApp, "We voluntarily agreed to put it (the new policy) on hold… we will not compel people to accept."
The Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing the plea.
Then Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad , introduced in Lok Sabha the 'The Personal Data Protection Bill', 2019, in December 11, 2019. The Bill seeks to protect the personal data of individuals and establishes a Data Protection Authority for the same.
Unde the new bill, the government governs the processing of personal data by: (i) government, (ii) companies incorporated in India, and (iii) foreign companies dealing with personal data of individuals in India.
Personal data pertains to characteristics, traits or attributes of identity, which can be used to identify an individual. The Bill categorises specific personal data as sensitive personal data.
This includes financial data, biometric data, caste, religious or political beliefs, or any other category of data specified by the government, in consultation with the Authority and the concerned sectoral regulator.
