Meta to appeal India's Rs 213-crore penalty order over WhatsApp policy
India TodayMeta, the parent company of WhatsApp, plans to challenge the Rs 213.14-crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India over alleged unfair business practices related to the messaging app's 2021 privacy policy update, reported news agency PTI. The CCI found that WhatsApp’s privacy policy update in 2021 involved practices deemed anti-competitive, such as sharing user data with other Meta-owned applications for advertising purposes. According to the order, WhatsApp's policy must now include detailed explanations of what user data is shared with other Meta entities, linking each data type to its intended purpose. Additionally, the CCI mandated that sharing of user data with Meta for purposes unrelated to providing WhatsApp services should not be a prerequisite for using the app in India.