CCI likely to penalise WhatsApp over its privacy policy update: Report

The update would allow WhatsApp to share certain user data with its parent Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.). This stirred regulators in many countries.

The Indian watchdog for fairness in trade practices is likely to issue an order to WhatsApp for violating the country's competition laws, according to a report by Livemint.

A contentious update on WhatsApp privacy policy and service terms has attracted the wrath from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), reported the business news portal. The CCI order may include a penalty, too, it said.

The messaging giant's controversial 2021 update would allow WhatsApp to share certain user data with its parent Meta Platforms Inc (formerly Facebook Inc). This stirred regulators in many countries. As per the report, the director general of investigation (DG) of the CCI has concluded that WhatsApp and its parent, Meta contravened the provisions of competition law that prohibit abuse of dominance.

The DG’s report has been shared with the CCI and it has prepared a draft order that will be finalised soon and issued to the two companies, imposing penalty for the alleged violations, the report added.

The CCI has concluded that WhatsApp’s sharing of business transaction information of the users with Meta gave the group entities unfair advantage over competing platforms, the report said, quoting sources.

Queries emailed to CCI by the publication remained unanswered.

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“CCI proceedings are sub-judice and we can’t comment on it. WhatsApp gave users the choice of accepting the Privacy Policy Update, and users who chose not to accept the update continue to use WhatsApp to communicate with friends and family without having their accounts deleted or losing functionality," a spokesperson for WhatsApp said.