Bengaluru: The Government of India and the country’s laws should define and protect privacy of citizens, IT industry veteran TV Mohandas Pai said on Wednesday, as he accused large social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, of “double standards”.
“Let the Court decide, not WhatsApp”, he said, commenting on WhatsApp filing a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court challenging the government’s new IT rules. According to the Facebook-owned company, adhering to the new social media rules would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy.
“This will go to Supreme Court”, the former chief financial officer of Infosys Ltd. said.
According to Pai, the big issue here is who decides on right to privacy — a social media platform by means of a one-sided contract or regulations in the country. “These platforms have now become public utilities as crores of people use them! Our Data is not safe! They are subject to US law and their security agencies have full access to our data. So where is the privacy?” he said. “They (WhatsApp) have clear double standards! Our govenrment and our law should define and protect our privacy, not these platforms!”
Also Read: Google, Facebook say ready to comply with India’s new digital rules
The new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, were announced by the government on February 25 and it require large social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to comply with the norms by May 25. The rules require them to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
