The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has taken strict action against social media giant Meta. The latest action has been taken for violation of privacy policy. In this case, CCI has imposed a fine of 213 crore 14 lakh on Meta. Giving information about the action, CCI said, “The latest action is related to how WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy was implemented and how user data was collected and shared with other Meta companies.”
The Commission also issued a cease-and-desist direction and directed Meta and WhatsApp to implement certain behavioural measures within a specified timeframe.
What is the matter?
According to the Competition Commission of India, this fine is related to how WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy was implemented and how user data was collected and how it was given to other meta companies. In January 2021, WhatsApp notified its users about the new policy. According to this notification, the user will have to accept their terms to avail the services of the app, in which one condition was related to data sharing.
This ban on Meta for 5 years
Let us tell you that earlier in the policy of 25 August 2016, the user was given the option to accept or not accept the condition of sharing data with Facebook, however, in the 2021 policy, this option was abolished for the user and data sharing has been made mandatory. Along with this, some conditions have been kept for Meta, which also includes data sharing with Meta. In the latest order of CCI, apart from the fine, CCI has issued several instructions to Meta and WhatsApp to make changes in their working. There is a complete ban on sharing any data with Meta for the next 5 years for the purpose of WhatsApp advertising.