Delhi HC Seeks WhatsApp’s Response Over Privacy Policy Concerns

Even though WhatsApp claims to offer end-to-end encryption there are loopholes in its policy, alleges the PIL

WhatsApp messages can now be completely encrypted. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked online messaging service WhatsApp and its parent company, social networking site Facebook, to respond to allegations made in a public interest litigation (PIL) with respect to WhatsApp’s new privacy policy.

The PIL has alleged that though WhatsApp claims to offer end-to-end encryption, there are loopholes in its policy which lead to security breach.

Though the new privacy policy seeks to give an impression that it is continuing to retain end-to-end encryption and other features for securing the privacy of the users, a thorough reading of the policy as a whole clearly shows that it is very cleverly worded and is also very misleading in nature as it starts with the sentence ‘Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA’, while it severely compromises the security, safety and privacy of the data and information belonging to/shared by the users.

The petition

Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Facebook, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014, told BloombergQuint that WhatsApp does not have access to any data as it provides end-to-end encryption.

Read the full BloombergQuint report here.