SC notice to Centre, Google, Amazon

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to Centre, Google, Amazon and Facebook/WhatsApp over a petition filed by CPI MP Binoy Viswam seeking data protection of transactions made over UPIs.

A three-judge bench headed by CJI SA Bobde said, “we will issue notice. Here there is apprehension that the entire regime of payments will commence before the entire regulatory framework is put in place.”

Senior advocate Shyam Divan appearing for Viswam said that RBI issued an order in April 2018 asking these multinational firms to ensure data transacted on these forums is secured in a server within India. This was to be complied by October 2018 but was not done, Divan added.

He further informed the court that WhatsApp stores data with its parent company Facebook having server outside India.

The court has also issued notices to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The petition filed through advocate P Sriram said, “The RBI and NPCI, instead of looking into such allegations (of data protection) have turned a blind eye and have permitted the operation of Amazon, Google, and WhatsApp in the UPI platform even contrary to public interest. This at a time when India has banned host of Chinese applications on the ground that these applications were or could be used for data theft.” Hindustan Times