The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over their privacy policy.
The apex court said that technology giants cannot “play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing.”
Interim order likely on February 9
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi said it would pass an interim order in the matter on February 9.
The top court also directed that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) be made a party to the petitions.
Appeals against CCI penalty hearing
The bench was hearing appeals filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment, which upheld the CCI’s findings of abuse of dominance while granting limited relief related to advertising-linked data sharing.
“You cannot violate citizens’ Right to Privacy”: CJI
“You can’t play with the right to privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. We will not allow you to share a single word of data unless you give an undertaking. You cannot violate the right to privacy of citizens,” the Chief Justice of India said.
Privacy terms too complex for common citizens, says SC
The bench observed that the right to privacy is zealously guarded in the country and noted that the privacy terms of technology companies are “so cleverly crafted” that a common person cannot understand them.
SC warns of passing orders without undertaking
“This is a decent way of committing theft of private information. We will not allow you to do that. You have to give an undertaking; otherwise, we will have to pass an order,” the CJI said.
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