Delhi HC: Woman's Right to a Shared Household Does Not Allow Indefinite Occupation of In-Laws' Home  ||  Delhi HC: Director Disputes in a Company Do Not Qualify as Genuine Hardship to Delay ITR Filing  ||  Delhi HC: ECI Cannot Resolve Internal Disputes of Unrecognised Parties; Civil Court Must Decide  ||  Bombay High Court: Senior Citizens Act Cannot be Misused to Summarily Evict a Son  ||  Chhattisgarh HC: Service Tax Refund Can't Be Denied on Limitation When Payment Was Made During Probe  ||  Supreme Court: If Tribunal Ends Case For Unpaid Fees, Parties Must Seek Recall Before Using S.14(2)  ||  SC: Article 226 Writs Jurisdiction Cannot be Used to Challenge Economic or Fiscal Reforms  ||  Supreme Court: Hostile Witness Testimony Can't Be Discarded; Consistent Parts Remain Valid  ||  Supreme Court: GPF Nomination in Favour of a Parent Becomes Invalid Once the Employee Marries  ||  Supreme Court: Candidate Not Disqualified if Core Subject Studied Without Exact Degree Title    

Karmanya Singh Sareen and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors. - (High Court of Delhi) (23 Sep 2016)

Parties to a private contract and users of "WhatsApp" having voluntarily opted to avail services of said application are bound by terms of service offered

MANU/DE/2607/2016

Civil

Petitioners claim to be the users of “WhatsApp”, an Internet Messaging Application, provided by Respondent No.2/"WhatsApp Inc.", a company based in USA. Petitioner pleaded that "WhatsApp" was acquired in year 2014 by Respondent No.3/"Facebook Inc.". It is alleged that after "WhatsApp" was acquired, a drastic change has been proposed to be made in privacy policy of "WhatsApp" and users were put on notice in August, 2016. Users were asked to agree to terms and privacy policy by 25th September, 2016 to continue using "WhatsApp". Said action is assailed in instant writ petition contending that, proposed change in privacy policy of "WhatsApp" would result in altering/changing most valuable, basic and essential feature of "WhatsApp" i.e. complete protection provided to privacy of details and data of its users. Further submission that, unilateral action of Respondent Nos.2 to 4 in taking away protection to privacy of details and data of users of "WhatsApp" and sharing same with "Facebook" and all its group companies for purpose of commercial advertising and marketing amounted to infringing fundamental rights of users guaranteed under Article 21 of Constitution of India.

"WhatsApp" is a software Application which facilitates sending and receiving variety of media, text, photos, videos, etc. by using the Internet. It is a free Application and anyone who has a working Internet connection can opt for the same. Respondent No.2 which launched "WhatsApp" as well as Respondent No.3 which acquired same subsequently are private entities. In fact, users of "WhatsApp" and Respondent No.2 are parties to a private contract and users of "WhatsApp" having voluntarily opted to avail services of said Application, are bound by terms of service offered by Respondent No.2.

Since, terms of service of “WhatsApp” are not traceable to any statute or statutory provisions, it appears that, issue sought to be espoused in present petition is not amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution of India. Under Privacy Policy of “WhatsApp”, users are given an option to delete their “WhatsApp” account at any time, in which event, information of users would be deleted from servers of "WhatsApp". Therefore, it is always open to existing users of "WhatsApp" who do not want their information to be shared with "Facebook", to opt for deletion of their account.

In view that, issue relating to existence of an individual's right of privacy as a distinct basis of a cause of action is yet to be decided by a larger Bench of Supreme Court vide K.S. Puttaswamy (Retired) and Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., (2015) 8 SCC 735, High Court disposed off the Petition by issuing directions to protect interest of users of "WhatsApp".

Relevant : K.S. Puttaswamy (Retired) and Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., (2015) 8 SCC 735

Tags : PRIVACY   RIGHT   INFORMATION   SHARING  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2025 - All Rights Reserved