The WhatsApp Privacy Policy Dilemma

It is no doubt that with the rapid growth of technology and internet-based communication globally, it is vital to keep safeguarded the personal information and data of individuals and to have robust laws in place to regulate the collection and use of such personal information and data by entities. It was with this view that the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) was enacted, which sets forth the guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information and data from individuals who live in the EU. The GDPR guides entities on how to handle people’s personal information and data with the aim of safeguarding the people’s rights and their access to information about them while placing restrictions on what organizations can do with the personal data that they collect. In India, the Data Protection Bill, 2019 (“PDB Bill”) is said to be in its final stages of parliamentary review. The lack of a vigorous data protection system in place in India presently especially given the digital proliferation in the country has been brought to light owing to popular social media platform WhatsApp, when it decided to update its terms of use and privacy policy. Briefly, the updated policy…
Read More