Complying with NCLAT directions on privacy: Meta and WhatsApp | India News
New Delhi: Social media giants Meta and WhatsApp on Monday told the Supreme Court that they will not insist on staying the Appellate Company Law Tribunal (NCLAT) order barring them from sharing data for non-core services and ordering users to provide a transparent opt-out option to withdraw consent for such sharing.Two weeks after the SC criticized them for the complex process of data sharing and withdrawal of users’ consent, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told a bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justices Jayamalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi that both Meta and WhatsApp will fully comply with the NCLAT directions within two months, by March 16.While the bench disposed of two pleas by Meta and WhatsApp seeking a stay on the NCLAT order, senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for the Competition Commission of India (CCI), said the key issue was the regulator’s directive imposing a five-year ban on data sharing for advertising purposes. SC posted further hearing on April 19. Sibal first tried to sidestep the issue by arguing that it could be decided during the final hearing of the appeals filed by Meta, WhatsApp and CCI and later by arguing that companies are required by law to comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act by June 2027. Divan said the NCLAT had suspended an important directive by the regulator to WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other meta companies or meta company products for advertising purposes for five years.This needs to be tried and an interim stay on NCLAT’s order in this regard is necessary, he said, despite NCLAT agreeing with the CCI that the two companies enjoyed a dominant position in the market and cross-sharing of data between them has increased Meta’s competitive advantage in the display advertising market, which has created barriers for WhatsApp’s rival to access data.The CCI said, if the five-year ban on data sharing for advertising purposes is not implemented “there will be serious prejudice to OTT messaging apps on smartphones in India and the online display advertising market in India.”
