New Delhi. Expressing concern over data sharing by social media platforms, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that most users are not even aware that their data is being shared with a company like Cambridge Analytica.
A division bench of Justice Rajeev Shakdher and Justice Poonam A Bamba expressed their concern during the hearing of a petition filed by WhatsApp and its parent company Meta (formerly Facebook).
Both the companies have filed a petition against the order issued in June 2021 by a one-member bench of the Delhi High Court. A one-member bench of the High Court had refused to interfere with the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) probe against WhatsApp’s new privacy policy.
Opposing the petition of WhatsApp and Facebook against the new IT rules, on October 2021, the Central Government also informed the High Court that WhatsApp has already violated the fundamental rights of the users of the country by denying the dispute resolution rights.
Expressing concern over the violation of privacy rights of users, the Bench observed that most of the users are not aware that their data is being shared with a company like Cambridge Analytica.
Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, came into limelight when it was revealed that Facebook had shared data of millions of users with it.
It is alleged that Facebook shared data of millions of users with this company, using which this company used this company to influence voter turnout in the referendum on Brexit and the 2016 US presidential election.
The bench said that how social media platforms use data is a matter of concern.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel Harish Salve said that the new privacy policy gives right to the users to share their data or not and there is no coercion in doing so.
The High Court had on January 3 extended the period for replying to the notices issued by the CCI against WhatsApp and Facebook. The bench said that both should submit their written reply before the next hearing.
The next hearing of the matter will now take place on July 21.
—AnyTV News
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