The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the Centre and social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp to reply to a PIL challenging the new privacy policy of the instant messaging app on the grounds that it violates "informational privacy" of users.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice to the Centre, Facebook and WhatsApp and sought their stand on the petition by May 13.
WhatsApp told the bench during the hearing that private conversations of individuals are protected by end to end encryption.
The petitioner, Harsha Gupta, urged the court for some interim orders as the Facebook-owned WhatsApp intends to bring its policy into effect from May 15. The court then listed the matter for hearing on May 13.