CCI Meta Fine, Meta Fined, India Meta Fine CCI, CCI Meta Fine Rs 213 Crore, 2021 WhatsApp Privacy Policy: Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant Meta is not going through an ideal time in India. At one place, Meta has been at 'legal' loggerheads with the Central Government over its amended IT Policy, on the other hand, Meta has recently been fined a whopping Rs 213.14 crore by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
For those who are not aware, India's competition watchdog (CCI) on Monday fined Meta Rs 213.14 crore for abusing its position, as the 2021 privacy policy update of its messenger app WhatsApp reduced the ability of users to avoid sharing their data with the group's social media platform Facebook.
According to a statement from the regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered WhatsApp not to share users' data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or products for advertising purposes for five years. The CCI considers Meta to be a major player in internet-based messaging and online display advertising through WhatsApp.
What did the CCI say on Meta over policy violation?
The CCI said that for purposes other than advertising, WhatsApp's policy should include a detailed description of the users' data shared with other companies or products of the Meta Group. The regulator also said that sharing user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies or products for purposes other than providing WhatsApp services in India should not be a condition for users.
What did CCI say in its order in which it fined Meta?
As per reports, CCI has said that all WhatsApp users in India, including those who accept the 2021 privacy policy change, should be given the option to manage such data sharing through an opt-out option for sharing data for purposes other than offering Meta messaging services. Along with this, all future policies should comply with these requirements.
Countries that have taken action against Meta
It is pertinent to mention here that it is not the first time, Meta has been under legal trouble. In December 2021, Germany's Data Protection Commissioner temporarily banned Facebook from processing WhatsApp data of German users. Ireland's Data Protection Commission also fined WhatsApp in 2021 for a previous privacy policy update that users were asked to accept before the European Union implemented its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018.
Meta's reaction to CCI's fine
Meta has clarified that it will challenge CCI's decision. As per a news wire that quoted an unnamed spokesperson of the social media giant, Meta will appeal against CCI's decision and he rejected the allegations related to WhatsApp’s controversial 2021 privacy policy update. The spokesperson emphasized that the update did not change the privacy of people's personal messages and was offered as an optional choice for users, with no one losing access to WhatsApp.
“The 2021 update did not change the privacy of people's personal messages and was offered as a choice for users. No one lost access to WhatsApp because of this update,"said the Spokesperson.