Right to Privacy

• WhatsApp and Meta's appeals against the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) investigation into the privacy policy of 2021 were rejected by the Supreme Court.
• The anti-trust agency cannot look into the privacy policy because it has been put on hold pending the introduction of the updated Data Protection Bill, according to both WhatsApp and Meta.
• The CCI is an independent body with the jurisdiction to examine any claimed infringement of the Competition Act of 2002's provisions and cannot be persuaded to stop looking into such claims.

What are the problems with WhatsApp's privacy policies?

• The mobile phone number, user activity, and other essential details of the WhatsApp account are among the data that WhatsApp automatically gathers and will be sharing with Facebook.
• According to WhatsApp's privacy policy, it is the owner of the data rather than merely a conduit because it shares commercial user data with Facebook.
• Users no longer have the option to choose not to share their data with other Facebook-owned and outside apps, thanks to the new policy.
• The Whatsapp policy deviates from the Srikrishna Committee report's recommendations, which served as the inspiration for the 2019 Data Protection Bill. For instance:
• The privacy policy of WhatsApp may be at odds with the Data Localization principle, which tries to limit the transmission of personal data outside of the country.

What was the Personal Data Protection Bill?

• On December 11, 2019, the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha.
• Commonly known as the "Privacy Bill," it was designed to safeguard individual rights by limiting the gathering, transfer, and processing of data that is personal or that can be used to identify a specific person.
• The government withdrew the measure in response to a number of points brought up by big names in technology as well as by regular people.

About The Right to privacy:

• Privacy is frequently used interchangeably with the right to solitude.
• The right to privacy is a fundamental and inalienable right that relates to the individual and covers all information about that individual as well as the decisions that he or she takes, according to the Supreme Court in its landmark 2017 judgement in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India.
• According to Article 21 of the Constitution and as one of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution, the Right to Privacy is safeguarded as an integral component of the right to life and to personal liberty.

Limitations (as outlined in the judgement):

Only governmental action that meets all three criteria can restrict the right:

• First, the state action must be authorised by law,
• Second, it must be carried out in furtherance of an acceptable state goal, and
• Third, it must be proportionate, meaning that it must be necessary in a democratic society in both nature and extent, and it must be the least intrusive option among those available to achieve the goals.

What are the steps taken by the government to protect privacy?

• The B N Srikrishna Committee was established by the government and headed by Justice B N Srikrishna. The committee's report was turned in in July 2018.
• Information Technology Act, 2000

The IT Act offers protection against a number of breaches involving data from computer systems. It has clauses that forbid the misuse of computers, computer systems, and the data stored on them

About India's Competition Commission (CCI) do?

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was created by the Indian government in March 2009 to administer, implement, and enforce the Competition Act, 2002.
• It focuses on three anti-competitive market issues in particular:
  • monopolistic agreements.
  • misuse of power.
  • Combinations.
  • Eliminate practises that have a negative impact on competition.
  • sustain and encourage competition.
  • Keep consumers' interests in mind.
  • Ensure that trade is unrestricted in India's markets.
  • Create a strong competitive atmosphere by:
  • proactive interaction with all parties, including customers, business partners, the government, and international organisations.

Composition:

• One Chairperson and six Members of the Commission are chosen by the Central Government.
• The commission is a quasi-judicial entity that deals with other issues as well as providing advice to statutory bodies.
• All other Members, including the Chairperson, must be full-time Members.