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The Supreme Court has issued a strong warning to Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, that sharing user data for advertising purposes would not be tolerated. “If you can’t follow our Constitution, leave India. We won’t allow citizens’ privacy to be compromised,” Chief Justice Surya Kant said.
A bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, warned the global tech giant not to treat user data in a trivial manner, while hearing petitions linked to WhatsApp’s controversial 2021 privacy policy, on Tuesday.
Initially, the court asked Meta and its messaging arm WhatsApp to file an affidavit that the user data would not be disclosed for advertising purposes and even warned that failing to submit the affidavit could lead to dismissal of the case. However, the court did not pass any orders regarding the issue by the end of the proceedings, as Meta’s legal team sought time to respond.
During the hearing, the court raised concern over how ordinary users could truly understand language used in WhatsApp’s privacy policy. The SC bench pointed out that a roadside vendor or a poor woman cannot understand the language. This is a way of stealing private information and we will not allow it, the court said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the government, termed WhatsApp data-sharing model as unfair and exploitative as commercial advertisers enter the scene basing on the private conversation of the users. To this, senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Akhil Sibal, arguing in favour of Meta, said all messages are end-to-end encrypted, which means even the platform cannot read the messages.
What is WhatsApp 2021 Privacy Policy?
Under the policy, WhatsApp is allowed to share user data — phone numbers, device information and chat with business accounts with its parent company Meta on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. The users of WhatsApp are required to accept the data sharing with other platforms owned by Meta, if they want to use the messaging platform.
The sharing of data raised privacy and competition concerns in India, prompting the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to investigate the policy. The CCI said that WhatsApp was forcing the users to accept the policy, as it was abusing its dominance in the market.
Then the CCI ruling imposed a penalty of Rs 213 crore on WhatsApp which was later challenged by Meta, leading to a legal battle, involving the company law tribunal and CCI.
Penalty Deposited
Mukul Rohatgi also informed the court that Rs 213 penalty imposed by the CCI was deposited.
Following the CCI ruling, Meta and WhatsApp moved the court in January 2025 to challenge the order. Subsequently, in November 2025, the company law tribunal lifted a five-year ban on data sharing between WhatsApp and Meta. The apex court is weighing in whether the tribunal was right in allowing data sharing.
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