Indian Supreme Court on WhatsApp: ‘You can’t play with the right to privacy’

On Tuesday, India’s Supreme Court handed down an unusually harsh punishment to Meta, warning that it will not allow the social media giant to “play with the right to privacy” of Indian users, as judges questioned how WhatsApp monetizes personal data.

The comments were made as Meta appealed the penalty imposed on WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy. The judges also asked the company how users can reasonably allow data sharing practices in a market where the app is the default social media platform.

With over 500 million users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market and a key growth area for Meta’s advertising business. Jurors in the case questioned the potential commercial value of metadata generated by the platform, and how such data could be monetized across Meta’s broader advertising and AI operations.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant said the Supreme Court will not allow Meta and WhatsApp to share even “a single piece of information” while the appeal is pending, saying users face little real choice in accepting WhatsApp’s privacy policy.

Calling the messaging service a monopoly, Kant questioned how a “poor woman selling fruit on the street” or a domestic worker could be expected to understand how her data was being used.

Some judges also pressed Meta on how user data was analyzed beyond the content of the message. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the court wants to assess the commercial value of behavioral data and how it is used in targeted advertising, saying that even undisclosed or hidden information has economic value. Prosecutors added that personal data was not only collected but also exploited for commercial purposes.

Meta’s lawyers say the platform’s messages are encrypted on its end and not even accessible to the company, saying the privacy policy in question did not weaken user protection or allow chat content to be used for advertising.

The case stems from a 2021 update to WhatsApp’s privacy policy that required Indian users to accept extensive data sharing terms with Meta or stop using the service. India’s competition regulator later imposed a fine of ₹2.13 billion (about $23.6 million), finding that the policy undermined WhatsApp’s dominant position in the messaging market. That decision was upheld on appeal before Meta and WhatsApp moved the Supreme Court to challenge it. Meta’s lawyers told the court that the sentence has been handed down.

The Supreme Court adjourned the matter until February 9, allowing Meta and WhatsApp to explain in detail their data practices. At the suggestion of the competition regulator, the court also agreed to add the IT service as part of the case, widening the scope of the trial.

Meta declined to comment.

WhatsApp has been facing high scrutiny for its data privacy worldwide. Authorities in the US are reportedly investigating allegations that WhatsApp chats may not be as private as the company claims, adding to broader questions about how encrypted messaging platforms handle user data.

In India, WhatsApp is also navigating new regulatory measures, including recent SIM-locking laws aimed at curbing fraud, which could reduce the extent to which small businesses use the messaging service.