India’s Supreme Court is examining WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy in a case that raises broader legal questions about data protection, market dominance and constitutional rights in the digital economy.
The messaging platform told the court it would comply by 16 March with an order requiring greater user control over data sharing with its parent company, Meta. In an affidavit, WhatsApp said users would be able to continue using the service even if they opted out of sharing data for advertising purposes. The court had earlier criticised the policy’s “take it or leave it” structure, warning that it would not permit companies to undermine the constitutional right to privacy, recognised in India as a fundamental right.
The dispute originated in March 2021 when the Competition Commission of India ordered an investigation, alleging exploitative and exclusionary conduct. It concluded that requiring users to accept data-sharing terms as a condition of service denied them meaningful choice and enabled Meta to leverage WhatsApp’s dominance in advertising markets. In November 2024, the regulator fined Meta $25m for abusing its dominant position, barred data sharing between WhatsApp and Meta entities for five years, and directed clearer disclosure of data-sharing purposes. A company law tribunal later upheld the penalty but stayed the five-year ban, prompting Meta and WhatsApp to challenge the ruling before the Supreme Court in January 2026.
WhatsApp has maintained that personal messages remain protected by end-to-end encryption and stated that data sharing for advertising does not occur unless users activate optional features. It has pledged to implement a consent-based framework, notify users of their choices and introduce a prominent settings tab enabling review or modification of preferences. The company also said future policy updates would comply with regulatory requirements and that preparations are under way to align with India’s new digital data protection law.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the penalty, while separate challenges to the data protection law itself are pending before a five-judge bench, underscoring the unsettled legal terrain surrounding digital privacy and platform governance in India.
