You are reading it here first: Seeking to get the Facebook transfer petition dismissed, Vijay Narayan, the Advocate General of the State of Tamil Nadu which is listed as respondents 6-7 in the Facebook transfer petition, filed the State’s response with the Supreme Court today. He also filed an application with the Supreme Court asking it to let the Madras High Court hear the WhatsApp traceability case, and pass any required order. MediaNama readers might recall that at the last Supreme Court hearing on the transfer petition, the Court had said that the Madras HC could not pass as effective order because of which, in the subsequent hearing at the Madras HC, the matter was adjourned. The State of Tamil Nadu submitted that the transfer petition is based on “frivolous” grounds, “suppress[es] material facts and documents”, “has been filed in a clearly malafide manner”, and is “a bid to scuttle the proceedings before the [Madras] High Court”. The transfer petition will be heard in the Supreme Court tomorrow, September 13. Tamil Nadu government's arguments1. Privacy is a ‘red herring’ by Facebook: Calling Facebook’s argument about user privacy a “red herring”, the TN government cited the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Facebook’s business model which is “the use and commercialisation of users [sic] data” which is then “shared with businesses and political parties for targeted advertising”. 2. Exception to the right to privacy in Puttaswamy judgement: Citing the maintenance of law and order exception under the Puttaswamy judgement, the TN government wrote…
