The Competitors Fee of India on Monday, November 18, imposed a penalty of over Rs 213.14 crore in opposition to Meta in reference to information sharing practices below WhatsApp’s 2021 privateness coverage replace for Indian customers that had sparked outrage and was finally deferred.
“The Fee additionally issued cease-and-desist instructions and in addition directed Meta and WhatsApp to implement sure behavioural treatments inside an outlined timeline,” the CCI mentioned in a press launch.
In 2021, WhatsApp had up to date its privateness coverage and phrases of use to state that it might share person information with different Meta-owned platforms equivalent to Fb and Instagram. The transfer had prompted an uproar amongst privateness advocates and had led to a short lived surge in sign-ups on different platforms equivalent to Sign and Telegram.
“The Fee has concluded that the 2021 coverage replace by WhatsApp on a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ foundation constitutes an imposition of unfair situation below the Act, because it compels all customers to simply accept expanded information assortment phrases and sharing of information inside Meta Group with none decide out,” the antitrust watchdog mentioned, including that Meta has breached Part 4(2)(a)(i) of The Competitors Act, 2002.
