WhatsAPP will not enforce it Privacy policies until PDP bill comes into force

WhatsApp said on Friday it has voluntarily decided not to enforce its new privacy policy till India’s Personal Data Protection Bill is passed. No User Will Be Forced To Accept New Policies.

However, it would continue to send updates and messages to such users regarding the new privacy policy. This is something which WhatsApp has said since the time it implemented the new privacy policy, that is May 15.

Now, WhatsApp has taken a u-turn now and it made the submission before the Delhi high court, clarifying it would not compel users to opt for its new policy and would implement it only if Parliament allows. Apparently, this is until the government passes the Data Protection Bill, which will specify how such data can be processed.

WhatsApp had previously stated that users who don’t accept the new policy of WhatsApp will not lose their accounts. However, they will lose their access to some important features if they don’t accept the new policy.

We voluntarily agreed to put it (the new policy) on hold…we will not compel people to accept…The government has asked to shut down our policy. We have said we will not enforce it till Data Protection Bill comes out. That is open-ended because we don’t know when the Bill is going to come out…We have said we will not do this for a while. Suppose the Bill allows me to do it, we will have completely different ramifications,” senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for WhatsApp, told a division bench comprising Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh.

“We replied to the ministry of electronics and information technology’s (MeitY) notice seeking a response, saying that WhatsApp will not limit functionality for some time and continue to show users the updated version…We will maintain this approach until Data Protection Bill comes into force. We have voluntarily agreed to put the update on hold till then,” Salve added.