![WhatsApp, Take It Easy, Seek the Law](https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-109703076,width-300,height-225,imgsize-8244,resizemode-75/whatsapp-take-it-easy-seek-the-law.jpg)
There can be debate over what constitutes due process, and how to go about satisfying its requirements. In these pursuits, law and technology need to come closer on the art of the possible. But absolute positions, such as threatening to stop services if forced to dilute encryption on occasion, can end up badly.
Indian courts, unfortunately, have a long list of precedents that fetter fundamental rights. So, it would be better for everyone that things don't come to such a pass.
On the matter of what it will take for WhatsApp to comply with the requirements of law enforcement in India, it may find a more sympathetic legal view on its right to conduct business. If data storage and retrieval compliances become unsustainable, a case can be made out.
However, the new data privacy law applies to a wide range of businesses, including financial services. Social media platforms should find it difficult to make the argument for a carveout, either due to the nature of their business, or due to its scale.
The case weakens when monetisation of user data becomes a key component of the business plan of social media.
WhatsApp may find it fruitless to go freedom-shopping in a quest for absolutism. This question cannot be answered through economic negotiation, but by legal remedy to power, be that of the individual or of the state.
The instant-messaging service would serve freedom of speech by testing its limits in the jurisdictions it operates in, and not by trying to arm-twist lawmakers through vague threats of service denial.
As any global business, it needs to adapt to local conditions, particularly with countries trying to harmonise privacy protection. That process is in its infancy and will take a while to mature.
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.
Read More News on
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.