India’s Supreme Court delivered an unusually sharp rebuke to Meta on Tuesday, warning that it would not allow the social media giant to play with the privacy rights of Indian users. Judges questioned how WhatsApp monetizes personal data during a hearing where Meta appealed a penalty imposed over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy.
The court repeatedly asked how users can meaningfully consent to data-sharing practices in a market where the app is essentially the default communications platform. With over 500 million users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market and a key growth area for Meta’s advertising business. Judges raised concerns about the commercial value of metadata generated by the platform and how such data could be monetized across Meta’s wider advertising and AI functions.
Chief Justice Surya Kant stated the Supreme Court would not permit Meta and WhatsApp to share even a single piece of information while the appeal was pending. He argued users face little real choice in accepting WhatsApp’s privacy policy. Calling the messaging service a monopoly in practice, Justice Kant questioned how a poor woman selling fruits on the street or a domestic worker could be expected to understand how their data was being used.
Other judges pressed Meta on how user data is analyzed beyond message content. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the court wanted to examine the commercial value of behavioral data and its use for targeted advertising, noting that even anonymized or siloed information carries economic worth. Government lawyers added that personal data was not only collected but also commercially exploited.
Meta’s lawyers argued that the platform’s messages are end-to-end encrypted and inaccessible even to the company. They maintained that the privacy policy in question did not weaken user protections or allow chat content to be used for advertising.
The case originates from a 2021 update to WhatsApp’s privacy policy that required users in India to accept broader data-sharing terms with Meta or stop using the service. India’s competition regulator later imposed a penalty of approximately $23.6 million, finding the policy abused WhatsApp’s dominant position in the messaging market. That ruling was upheld on appeal before Meta and WhatsApp moved the Supreme Court to challenge it. Meta’s lawyers informed the court the penalty had already been paid.
The Supreme Court has adjourned the matter until February 9, allowing Meta and WhatsApp to explain their data practices in greater detail. At the suggestion of the competition regulator, the court also agreed to add the IT ministry as a party to the case, widening the scope of the proceedings. Meta declined to comment.
WhatsApp has been facing heightened scrutiny over data privacy globally. Authorities in the U.S. have reportedly examined claims that WhatsApp chats may not be as private as the company asserts, adding to broader questions about how encrypted messaging platforms handle user data.
In India, WhatsApp is also navigating new regulatory constraints, including recent SIM-binding rules aimed at curbing fraud, which could limit how widely small businesses use the messaging service.