The top court has now ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the petitions.

‘A Decent Way of Committing Theft’: SC Slams Meta’s ‘Clever’ Privacy Rules

The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday warned Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp, asserting that tech giants cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing." A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi was hearing appeals against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order that imposed a Rs 213.14 crore penalty over the privacy policy.

The CJI cautioned that the court would not allow the sharing of "a single word of the data" without a formal undertaking from the companies. Describing the data-sharing practices as a "decent way of committing theft of private information," the bench noted that privacy terms are "so cleverly crafted" that a common person cannot understand them. The court emphasized that the right to privacy is zealously guarded in India and warned the companies against violating it.

The appeals were filed against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment that had upheld the CCI's findings regarding abuse of dominance. The top court has now ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the petitions. The bench stated that it will pass an interim order on February 9, reiterating that an undertaking must be provided to avoid a direct court order.

Source: The Tribune