CHENNAI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses of the government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on a plea seeking framing of privacy policy to regulate commercial exploitation of private communication through social networking sites like WhatsApp and Facebook. A Bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud issued notice to WhatsApp and Facebook and sought their responses within two weeks.
The bench sought the assistance of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi in hearing the plea, which alleged that the social networking sites compromise the privacy of interpersonal communication of over 150 million people in the country.
The court was hearing an appeal by law students Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, who had moved the Delhi high court last year after WhatsApp announced its decision to tweak the privacy policy to share user information with its parent, Facebook. The High Court had granted partial relief by directing the popular instant messenger to delete the data of users who deleted their account before September 25. But the petitioner approached the apex court arguing that those who continued to have the account stood risk of their data being shared and thus privacy being compromised.
Senior advocate Harish Salve told the bench that with 157 million users, the popular instant messaging and call service has become “more of a public utility service like telephone.”
He indicated that the government was duty-bound to protect people’s rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution and safeguard their privacy. “TRAI says interception of calls without government’s order is illegal. Here, TRAI is doing nothing,” Salve pointed out.
Countering him, the Bench said, “Why can’t you choose the option of not availing this service if you want to protect your privacy… You can choose to walk out of WhatsApp.” The case was then posted for hearing at length during the summer vacations, and the bench asked Salve to argue the case himself which he agreed to.
The question of privacy and data sharing has been a hotly debated topic in recent times. According to activists, an aware mobile user would have noticed that if s/he searched for a contact saved on the phone, there is a high probability that the Facebook app would show the person as a ‘friend suggestion’ the next time one accesses it.
The data the social media platforms possess is not just what a user voluntarily enters while creating an account. The privacy policy page of the sites puts out a long list of “data” they collect including location.
Facebook’s list is exhaustive. It collects “device locations, including specific geographic locations through GPS, Bluetooth, or WiFi signals.
The data they possess is not limited to what a user submits; they also collate data from other sources including other companies they own or partner with. For instance, if a person having Facebook and WhatsApp accounts on the same phone has not provided their cell number to the former, the app will mention the number suggesting it to be included in the account details. Social media firms like Facebook partner with a lot of entities ranging from banks to supermarkets, and match the profile of the user based on the contact detailes submitted. The Facebook page meant for business explains how any company that wants to advertise with it can upload their customers list and Facebook will match the contact details with the profiles for targeted advertising.
In India where privacy is not yet a non-negotiable concern, the companies that upload such data include private banks and finance companies that offer various EMI schemes for products like refrigerators and washing machines. According to activists, this means the social media giant not just knows what one had for dinner (with which it has little use), but even the bank in which one holds their account and which product one bought on EMIs.