India's highest court sharply criticized WhatsApp and Meta during hearings over the company's privacy policy, with Chief Justice Surya Kant stating: "You can't play with the right to privacy of this country." The case could force major changes to how Meta operates in one of its largest markets.
India has 500 million WhatsApp users - Meta's biggest market. If India forces policy changes, it could create a blueprint for other countries tired of Big Tech's take-it-or-leave-it approach to privacy. This matters way beyond India's borders.
The Supreme Court is hearing appeals by WhatsApp and Meta regarding a ₹213.14 crore penalty (roughly $25 million) imposed by the Competition Commission of India over the platform's 2021 privacy policy update. That update made data sharing with Meta mandatory, eliminating the opt-out option that existed in the previous 2016 version.
Chief Justice Kant's remarks were pointed. He characterized the arrangement as "a decent way of committing theft of private information" and noted that WhatsApp's policies create a monopolistic trap: users cannot refuse without losing platform access entirely.
The Court identified several critical issues. First, mandatory data sharing. Users must accept Meta's terms or stop using WhatsApp. Given the app's ubiquity in India for everything from family communication to business transactions, that's not really a choice.
Second, lack of transparency. The privacy policies are written in complex legal language that's inaccessible to ordinary users. As the Chief Justice noted, this is particularly problematic for people in rural areas or non-English speakers. They're agreeing to terms they can't understand.
