WhatsApp ad data must meet consent rules, says NLCAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday clarified that the privacy and consent safeguards it upheld in a November verdict apply to WhatsApp’s sharing of user data with its parent company ‘Meta for all purposes, including advertising.

- Ayesha Arvind

The tribunal noted that its November order did not intend to exclude advertising from the transparency and consent obligations, and reading it otherwise “defeats the central objective of restoring user choice and preventing exploitation under WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy”

“Once users are provided optionality at any stage to opt in or opt out of data sharing - whether using regular features or optional features - their rights are protected for all times and there is a removal of exploitation, which has been the issue in 2021 WhatsApp policy,” NCLAT bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and technical member Arun Baroka said.