NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea which sought a direction to Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp to roll back its new privacy policy on grounds that it allegedly violates laws and can impact the country's security.

Chief justice SA Bobde observed that the matter is already being heard by the Delhi high court and granted the petitioner liberty to approach the lower court.

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) who have flagged concerns over the privacy policy applicable to WhatsApp Business users. It sought a direction to the Centre to intervene in the matter and frame guidelines to govern tech giants like WhatsApp and Facebook.

The petitioner stated that the PIL was necessitated due to the alleged failure of the Centre in carrying out its constitutional duty and responsibility to protect the rights to privacy and freedom of speech and expression of the citizens of India.

“We are on the privacy policy of WhatsApp Business accounts. WhatsApp has two kinds of subscribers- the general category and WhatsApp Business. The privacy concerns regarding the latter are critical. There is a lot of financial information of business enterprises there,” LiveLaw quoted the counsel for CAIT telling the court.

The plea said that users share confidential information on the platform on the assurance that their private and personal conversations, along with their confidential data and information, will neither be accessed by any other person (including the service provider itself) nor would such data or information be shared or exploited or utilised by anyone in any manner whatsoever.

"Thus, the technology giants who deal with such data must have a fiduciary duty to ensure that the information they so possess and collect from citizens and businesses must be safe and not used for their own commercial gains without the consent of the users. It is also the responsibility of the state to guarantee and ensure the protection of the personal and private data and information of the citizens," CAIT said in the petition.

While WhatsApp has issued clarifications regarding the updated privacy policy and deferred its roll out from 8 February to May 2021, concerns are far from allayed. A civil court in West Bengal has sent notice to WhatsApp Inc on a plea seeking temporary injunction to restrain the messenger platform from implementing its new privacy policy in India. According to the petitioner, the new privacy policy will enable sharing of private date with Facebook, which will harm his business.