New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down hard on WhatsApp, saying that it will not permit the "exploitation" of personal data of even a single Indian citizen and that what the messaging platform was doing in terms of data sharing with its parent company, Meta platforms, was nothing but a "decent way of committing theft of personal information." A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymala Bagchi and VM Pancholi - which was hearing a batch of appeals and cross-appeals filed by WhatsApp, Meta, and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's November 4, 2025 order upholding a Rs.213.14 crore penalty over WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy - said it will not even hear the appeals unless WhatsApp gave an "undertaking" that it will not share user data. Meta told the bench that it has already paid the penalty in full, subject to the outcome of the appeal and also informed the court that NCLAT had earlier stayed key directions of CCI relating to data sharing, prompting the present challenge. The court, however, said that it will not tolerate any dilution of user rights in the interim. "We will not allow you to share a single word of data with Meta or anyone else."...