The Delhi High Court onMonday granted more time to the Centre to file the status report in a petitionseeking direction for an injunction against the updated privacy policy byWhatsApp.
Notably, WhatsApp had askedusers to either give their consent to sharing data with Facebook or lose theiraccounts after February 8. The policy was, however, put on hold till May 15 dueto a massive backlash by the users.
The petition filed byAdvocate Chaitanya Rohilla has claimed that the new policy violates the Rightto Privacy guaranteed under the Constitution and gives a 360-degree profileinto a person's online activity without any government oversight.
During the course ofproceedings, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva granted the government more time andadjourned the matter to April 19. The court refused to issue notice to therespondents in the matter.
In a similar matter relatedto the new privacy policy, Chief Justice D.N. Patel had issued notice to theMinistry of Electronics and Information Technology. The matter will come up forhearing on March 15.
In a hearing on January 25,Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva emphasized that downloading the application is notmandatory and a person can choose not to download it.
"It is voluntary. Ifyou do not want to, you can choose not to. It is not mandatory for you todownload it," a single-judge Bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said,reiterating his stand from an earlier proceeding.
Prior to that, the judge hadremarked that if a person feels that WhatsApp will compromise data, they mustdelete it. "It is a private app. Do not join it. What is your grievance? Icannot understand your concern."