{"id":17668,"date":"2024-11-18T16:22:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T16:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=17668"},"modified":"2024-11-18T16:22:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T16:22:54","slug":"india-orders-meta-to-curb-whatsapp-data-sharing-levies-25m-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=17668","title":{"rendered":"India orders Meta to curb WhatsApp data sharing, levies $25M fine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">India\u2019s competition watchdog has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Meta units for advertising purposes for five years and also levied a fine of $25.4 million for antitrust violations related to WhatsApp\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2021\/02\/19\/whatsapp-details-what-will-happen-to-users-who-dont-agree-to-privacy-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">controversial 2021 privacy policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Competition Commission of India, which <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2021\/03\/24\/india-antitrust-body-orders-investigation-into-whatsapp-privacy-policy-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">began the investigation in 2021<\/a>, found that WhatsApp\u2019s \u201ctake-it-or-leave-it\u201d privacy update constituted an abuse of Meta\u2019s dominant position by forcing users to accept expanded data collection without an opt-out option. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WhatsApp\u2019s 2021 privacy policy update required users to share their data with Meta companies in order to continue using the messaging service, removing a previous opt-out option that had existed since 2016. The mandatory data-sharing requirement expanded the scope of data collection and its sharing with Meta\u2019s group companies. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The watchdog determined Meta was dominant in two key markets: over-the-top messaging apps through smartphones in India and online display advertising. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It concluded that WhatsApp\u2019s mandatory data sharing created entry barriers for Meta\u2019s rivals and resulted in denial of market access in the display advertising market. In addition to the monetary penalty, the CCI mandated significant changes to WhatsApp\u2019s data practices in India. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The messaging platform must provide users with detailed explanations of what data is shared with Meta companies and for what purpose. It must also give users prominent opt-out options through in-app notifications and settings menus, applying these changes to both new and existing users who accepted the 2021 update. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ruling represents the latest regulatory challenge for Meta in India, where WhatsApp has more than 450 million monthly active users.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 20px;\">\n<p><em>Source: <\/em> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/11\/18\/india-fines-meta-25-4-million-over-whatsapp-privacy-policy\/\">techcrunch.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s competition watchdog has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Meta units for advertising purposes for five years and also levied a fine of $25.4 million for antitrust violations related to WhatsApp\u2019s controversial 2021 privacy policy. The Competition Commission of India, which began the investigation in 2021, found that WhatsApp\u2019s \u201ctake-it-or-leave-it\u201d privacy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}