GUWAHATI, Nov 19: WhatsApp and its parent entity Meta suffered a big blow after the Competition Commission of India on Monday slapped the social media giant with a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore for “abusing” its dominant position over its move in 2021 to update WhatsApp’s privacy policy, thus violating the Competition Act.
The CCI has asked WhatsApp to not share user data with other Meta companies (Facebook and Instagram) and products for advertising purposes for five years, reports said.
Meta, meanwhile, said it “disagrees” with CCI’s decision and plans to appeal it.
“The 2021 update did not change the privacy of people’s personal messages and was offered as a choice for users at the time. We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this update,” Meta said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The update was about introducing optional business features on WhatsApp, and provided further transparency about how we collect and use data. And since that time, WhatsApp has been incredibly valuable to people and businesses, enabling organisations and government institutions to deliver citizen services through COVID and beyond, and as well as supporting small businesses, all of which furthers the Indian economy. WhatsApp is able to do all of this because it offers services supported by Meta,” the statement further added.
CCI, on the other hand, had said that WhatsApp’s privacy policy should include a detailed explanation of the user data shared with other Meta Companies.
“Sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta Companies for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp Service in India,” the CCI stated.
