Indian court orders WhatsApp to not share user data with Facebook collected before Sept. 25

WhatsApp’s move to share some of users’ information with Facebook isn’t sitting well with India. The country’s Delhi High Court today directed WhatsApp to make two critical alterations to its forthcoming policy changes for Indian customers.

A bench of Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court ordered WhatsApp to delete data of users who choose to opt out of WhatApp’s policy changes before Sept. 25. Furthermore, WhatsApp was asked to not share data collected before Sept. 25 with Facebook even for those users who are not opting out of WhatsApp’s new policy, which comes into effect on Sept. 25.

The Delhi High Court intervened on WhatsApp’s plans after two Indian students approached it last month. The students -- Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi -- expressed privacy concerns about changes in WhatsApp’s terms and privacy policy, accusing WhatsApp of “endangering” privacy of millions of users, and “severely compromising the rights of its users.”

WhatsApp announced last month that it will begin sharing some of its users’ account information -- phone number, in particular -- with its parent company Facebook. The company said that it will use this information to “improve experience across [...] services” and “fight spam and abuse.”

On its website, WhatsApp notes that "account information" of users include their mobile phone number as well as those of people who are in their "address book." The information also includes a user's "profile name, profile picture, and status message."

The popular instant messaging and voice calling service assured that “nothing you share on WhatsApp, including your messages, photos, and account information, will be shared onto Facebook or any of the Facebook family of apps for others to see.” A WhatsApp council appeared in front of Delhi High Court earlier this month and explained that WhatsApp wasn’t going to share users’ personal chat with Facebook.

“There is no question of messages, photographs or documents getting shared with Facebook. We have no access to the content. Using the messaging service is a voluntary decision, we have not forced anybody to use it. Users have an option of opting out of it,” he added.

"Having regard to the complete security and protection of privacy provided by Respondent 2 (WhatsApp) initially while launching Whatsapp and keeping in view that the issue relating to the existence of an individual's right of privacy as a distinct basis of a cause of action is yet to be decided by a larger bench of Supreme Court, we consider it appropriate to issue the following directions to protect interest of users of WhatsApp," the bench said according to news agency PTI.

WhatsApp could approach the Supreme Court to challenge the Delhi High Court’s decision. Mashable India has reached out to Facebook for a statement. India is one of WhatsApp’s largest markets with over 100 million monthly active users.