There's been a lot of discussion about WhatsApp and its questionable privacy policy lately. A huge chunk of people have even decided to ditch the app for other alternatives. WhatsApp has extended the deadline to accept its new privacy policy, which means there's still some time to reflect and make a well-informed decision.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High court has spoken about the new privacy policy of social messaging app. It pointed out that accepting the new WhatsApp privacy policy is a "voluntary" thing and one can always choose to not use or join it. It's more like a general reminder to people pointing out how it's not mandatory to use any app in particular and there always some alternatives out there.

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"It is a private app. Don't join it. It is a voluntary thing, don't accept it. Use some other app," Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said to the petitioner who challenged WhatsApp's new privacy policy. Additionally, the court also said if the terms and conditions of most mobile apps are read, then we'd be surprised as to what all we are consenting to. "Even Google maps captures all your data and stores it," the court said.

WhatsApp and Facebook, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi, made it a point to note that the plea was not maintainable and many of the issues were raised without any foundation. They also told the court that all messages shared between friends and family would remain encrypted and cannot be stored by WhatsApp and none of that changes under the new policy.

For those of you who don't know, the new policy would only affect the business chats on WhatsApp and it doesn't affect the normal chats for all its users. The petition against the app on the court contended that the updated privacy policy violates users' right to privacy under the Constitution.

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For now, the Delhi High court has pushed the hearing to January 25 saying the issues require further consideration. The central government also agreed with the court that the issue needs to be analyzed. We'll be keeping an eye on this issue to see how it unfolds, so stay tuned for more info.

Source: Livemint

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