New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear appeals from Meta Platforms and WhatsApp LLC on February 23 at 2 p.m., challenging an NCLAT order upholding a Rs 213.14 crore CCI penalty for the 2021 privacy policy's data-sharing practices. The case is before CJI Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul M. Pancholi.
In prior hearings, the bench slammed the "take it or leave it" terms as a monopoly tactic: "What is the choice? You have a complete monopoly in the market, and you are saying you are giving a choice. It is either you walk out of WhatsApp, or we will share your data." CJI Kant highlighted inaccessibility for ordinary users—"A poor woman selling fruits on the street -- will she understand the terms of your policy? "—and accused it of "a decent way of committing theft of private information " and mocking constitutional rights.
CCI fined WhatsApp for abusing dominance via data-sharing with Meta. NCLAT upheld the penalty but allowed ad-related sharing, prompting CCI's counter-appeal. WhatsApp claims end-to-end encryption protects messages, but court flagged targeted ads post-chats.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta backed concerns, noting data's commercial value. The bench ordered Meta/WhatsApp affidavits on consent and data mechanisms, impleading the Centre.
(Inputs from IANS)