India’s CCI slaps $25 million fine on Meta over WhatsApp data sharing with other platforms

Published On: November 20, 2024

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has fined Meta-owned WhatsApp a whopping $25.4 million (over Rs 214 crore) over its data-sharing policy with other platforms owned by the parent company. CCI had ordered WhatsApp not to share user data for advertising purposes with other Meta applications for a five-year period. The watchdog has imposed the penalty of $25.4 million (around Rs 215 crores) on WhatsApp-owned Meta for not complying with orders from 2021.

However, Meta disagreed (via) with the watchdog’s order and said it would legally challenge the order.

Meta fined by India’s competition watchdog

Three years ago in 2021, WhatsApp brought forward a new privacy policy under which it could use and share personal user data with its parent company Meta. This new privacy policy allowed WhatsApp and Meta to use data for targeted advertising. This was disguised as a move to improve end-user experience. The previous policy from August 2016 had the option for WhatsApp users to decide whether they want to share the data with Facebook or not.

There was no such option to ‘opt out’ of this. This means users had to share their personal information like call logs, contact details, etc in order to use WhatsApp. This led to Government of India to start an investigation into the matter and CCI was also involved.

CCI found that Meta’s new data-sharing practices were creating a barrier for other advertising platforms from entering the digital marketing space. The company was leveraging its dominant position in the messaging apps space to protect its position in the advertising market. The watchdog notes that WhatsApp’s large user base gave Meta an edge over the competition.

For this reason, WhatsApp was ordered to stop sharing any personal user data with Meta or any other company. However, the company hasn’t responded to the orders and as a result, it is now fined.

In context to that, CCI now orders Meta to provide users with an option to opt out of these data-sharing policies. It also asked Meta/WhatsApp users an option to review their choice through a prominent tab. CCI also ordered Meta and WhatsApp to offer a detailed explanation of the type of data that was shared and the purpose.

Meta seeks to legally appeal the order. The company’s spokesperson noted that the company did not alter the privacy of users’ personal messages. It also clarified that there were no account deletions or that the service was lost for not accepting the new policy terms. As per the company, the updated policy in 2021 was introduced as optional business features to increase transparency around data collection and usage.