WhatsApp privacy row: How messaging app's privacy policy impacts legal rights of Indian citizens

WhatsApp is going through extremely difficult times. Due to the new policy, the popularity of this social chatting app is gradually decreasing. Damage control has been started in various ways to handle the situation. It is informed that the new policy will be implemented in February or May. Yet one is surrounded by uncertainty. In this case, this privacy policy of WhatsApp can affect the legal rights of the common people of the country. How? Let's find out!

In this case, first of all, let's know about the updated policy of WhatsApp. It was recently learned that the new date for implementation of the policy is May 15 instead of February 8. But what is in this policy? According to the policy, to use the updated version of the app, everyone has to click on an 'agree and accept' option. Otherwise this app will become unusable. And according to WhatsApp's updated policy, user information may be shared with other platforms of the company. In this case, your WhatsApp data can also be shared on the owned company Facebook and other apps under it.

In addition, the app will be able to track the user's location data at all times. The chatting platform, however, claimed that the new policy would further strengthen the service and user experience. But people have started to suffer for fear of leaking information. Their panic is that this time all privacy will be broken. And resolving this issue is a big challenge for WhatsApp.

In this case, initially two issues will appear. Primary text messages will be shared in the business account. Another issue is metadata. In this case, there is a possibility of leaking highly confidential and sensitive information. Simply put, this metadata is everything in a message. Except for the content, the rest is all metadata. In this case, everything including contact number, location, financial details will be leaked. After knowing all the information of the user, Facebook will be able to place multiple advertisements on different platforms using it. Simply put, you will increase your business illegally.

Concerns about legal rights - Many people are not aware of this. Many people are using WhatsApp. Will do in the future. But unknowingly a lot of damage will be done. In 2017, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right of every citizen of the country is the right to privacy. Right to privacy also includes right to control. And this issue should always be protected.

In this case, the issue of a data protection law comes up. Although this law has not yet been implemented in the country. A bill was proposed under Section 5. However, it has not yet got the desired form. And according to this section and proposal, WhatsApp data can never be used by Facebook or other apps. This rule applies equally to all apps, not just WhatsApp or Facebook. Interestingly, there are problems with implementing WhatsApp's new policy in EU countries. Because here is the Data Protection Regulation.

So in a nutshell, this new policy is also affecting the legal rights of the people of the country. But which way will WhatsApp walk? That's it!