CCI imposed a fine on Meta of Rs 213 crore for sharing users' data

On Monday, CCI Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a fine on internet media company Meta of Rs 213.14 crore. CCI has directed WhatsApp not to share users' data with other companies owned by Meta for advertising purposes for five years. The ban period will start from the date of receipt of the order.

The country's competition regulator has taken this action for the anti-competitive activities of Meta. Meta had adopted unfair business practices and abused its dominant position in relation to the update of WhatsApp's privacy policy in 2021. CCI directed Meta to stop anti-competitive activities.

In the order, CCI said that this fine has been imposed in the matter of implementing WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy, collecting user data, and sharing it with other companies of Meta. Meta and WhatsApp have also been ordered to implement practical measures within a fixed time frame to resolve anti-competition issues. Meta Group dominates the messaging app market in India through WhatsApp.

Besides this, it was also revealed that Meta was the leading online display ad player in India, over its competitors. WhatsApp had started informing users about updating its terms of service and privacy policies from January 2021.

It further said that also meant users had to agree to them in order to keep using WhatsApp and thus mandated the data sharing with its group firms, including Meta. Under its 2016 privacy policy, WhatsApp users were given a choice on whether to share their data with Facebook or not.

The users had no effective alternative but to accept the update proposed by WhatsApp. In this way, Meta abused its dominance. CCI said all users in India, including those who have accepted the 2021 update, will get the option to manage data sharing through an opt-out option.