WHATSAPP MOVED DELHI HC CHALLENGING NEW IT RULES' "TRACEABILITY" CLAUSE

26th May 2021

WhatsApp moved to Delhi HC challenging new IT rules "traceability" clause. The Facebook-owned platform argued that the clause is violative of the right to privacy and unconstitutional, as underlined by the SC decision. WhatsApp submitted that Traceability would force private companies to store who said what and shared what for billions of messages every day, which will require platforms to collect data to turn it over to law enforcement. Moreover, the provision goes against the concept of end-to-end encryption.

WhatsApp further explained that innocent people could be caught up in investigations and jails for sharing content they did not create, shared it for some concern or checking accuracy.

It is thus prayed to declare the provisions unconstitutional and to prevent the clause from coming into force.

Author - Papiha Ghoshal