Indian users cannot be discriminated against the other users of WhatsApp, the Central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court saying that a new Data Protection Bill to safeguard citizens’ rights is underway and likely to be placed before Parliament in the upcoming session.
A five-judge Constitution bench of Justices K.M. Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C.T. Ravikumar posted the matter for 17 January 2023. The bench was hearing pleas filed by two students challenging WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy to share users’ data with parent company Facebook and others as a violation of their privacy and free speech.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the apex court that the government has already withdrawn the old data protection Bill and a new Bill will be introduced in Parliament.