The Supreme Court delivered a sharp rebuke to Meta and WhatsApp on Tuesday over the instant messaging platform's privacy policy, with Chief Justice Surya Kant warning the tech giant that India would not tolerate exploitation of its citizens' data.

"You can't play with privacy... we will not allow you to share a single digit of our data," the bench led by CJI Kant declared, adding, "If you can't follow our Constitution, leave India."

CCI Fine at Centre of Dispute

The court was hearing a plea regarding WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy, specifically challenging the company law tribunal's decision to uphold the Competition Commission of India's Rs 213 crore fine.

A cross-appeal by the CCI concerning sharing of user data for advertising purposes was also under consideration. The tribunal had allowed data sharing after ruling there was no "abuse of power" by Meta.

Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Akhil Sibal, appearing for Meta and WhatsApp, informed the court that the penalty amount had been deposited.

Government Backs Strong Action

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, criticized the "exploitative" policy of sharing user data for commercial purposes. The Chief Justice responded forcefully, stating that citizens' privacy would not be compromised.

Court Questions Policy Accessibility

The bench raised pointed concerns about whether ordinary Indians could comprehend the complex privacy policy.

"A poor woman or a roadside vendor, or someone who only speaks Tamil... will they be able to understand?" the court asked. "Sometimes even we have difficulty understanding your policies... so how will people living in rural Bihar understand them?"

The Chief Justice described the policy as "a way of committing theft of private information."

Personal Experience Cited

CJI Kant offered his own experience as evidence of data exploitation: "If a message is sent to a doctor on WhatsApp that you are feeling under the weather, and the doctor sends medicine prescriptions, immediately you start seeing ads."

Meta's lawyers countered that all messages are end-to-end encrypted, meaning even the companies cannot access content.

Case Background

The CCI ruled in November 2024 that WhatsApp, leveraging its dominant market position, forced users to accept the 2021 privacy update by linking continued service access to data-sharing with other Meta platforms.

Meta challenged the order in January 2025. In November 2025, the law tribunal set aside a five-year hold on data sharing while upholding the penalty.