Meta, WhatsApp Face Supreme Court's Ire Over Data Privacy

PTI, New Delhi, February 03, 2026 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday strongly criticised Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over their privacy policy. The Court remarked that tech giants cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing."

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi stated that it would pass an interim order on February 9. The top court also directed that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) be made a party to the petitions.

The court was hearing appeals filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment, which upheld the CCI's findings of abuse of dominance, while granting limited relief on advertising-related data sharing.

"You can't play with the right of privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. We will not allow you to share a single word of the data, either you give an undertaking... you cannot violate the right of privacy of citizens," Chief Justice Surya Kant remarked.

The bench highlighted that the right to privacy is "zealously guarded" in the country, noting that the privacy terms provided by tech companies are "so cleverly crafted" that a common person cannot fully understand them.

"This is a decent way of committing theft of private information, we will not allow you to do that... You have to give an undertaking, otherwise, we will have to pass an order," the Chief Justice added.

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