NEW DELHI (Sputnik) − The Supreme Court of India has sent notices to the Narendra Modi government, its telecom regulator and two prominent social media companies Facebook and WhatsApp.
They have been asked to respond to a complaint filed by an Indian that questions WhatsApp's move to share some user data with its parent company Facebook. The complainant argues over 160 million Indian WhatsApp users share critical information among each other. Therefore, it needs to safeguard data and privacy of its users.
Two law graduates have challenged a September 2016 lower court order that allows WhatsApp to share user information with Facebook. WhatsApp had then just announced its intention to share the phone numbers and status information of its user base with Facebook to "improve experience across services" and "fight spam and abuse."
WhatsApp has ambitious plan to monetize its business in India that may see rapid growth as government promoting digital push to reach out Indians for implanting government schemes.
India is not the only country putting WhatsApp's new data sharing policy under the lens. Europe and the UK had also opposed the instant messaging company's new policy.
