Bengaluru, Feb. 24 -- Online messaging platform WhatsApp on Monday told the Supreme Court that it does not read users' personal messages, sell user data, or use private chats to target advertisements, asserting that all personal communications remain end-to-end encrypted and inaccessible even to the company. At the same time, it cautioned that a blanket prohibition on any data sharing with its parent, Meta Platforms, would be detrimental in multiple ways - undermining user choice, impairing legitimate business functions, and adversely affecting thousands of small Indian enterprises that depend on digital advertising to survive. Opposing a complete embargo on data sharing, WhatsApp argued that such a restriction would be disproportionate and contrary to the balance sought to be achieved by competition and privacy regulators. The company made these submissions in an affidavit filed before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymala Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, which is hearing a batch of appeals and cross-appeals by WhatsApp, Meta and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the November 4, 2025 ruling of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal upholding a Rs.213.14 crore penalty over WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy. On February 3, the court restrained WhatsApp from sharing any user data in the interim and warned it would not permit the "exploitation of even a single" Indian citizen's personal data. On Monday, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Meta, said the company would not press for an interim stay of NCLAT's directions and would comply with a previous CCI order by March 16. This directive requires WhatsApp to give users greater control over whether their data is shared with other Meta companies. The main appeal will now be heard on merits later....