Supreme Court asks WhatsApp, Facebook to file affidavit on user data

Petitioners asked the court to pass an order restricting data sharing in view of privacy judgment

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed social media service providers WhatsApp and Facebook to file an affidavit in four weeks stating what data they were gathering about millions of users and whether they were sharing it with any third-party entity. 

The Bench, presided by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, issued the directive in view of the recent nine-judge bench judgment that upheld the right to privacy as a fundamental one. 

The apex court also issued a notice to Google on a new petition alleging that the search engine had violated the right to privacy. The court stated that