NEW DELHI, Nov 19 — India has imposed a penalty of 2,131 million rupees (US$25.4 million) on Facebook parent company Meta for unfair business practices and told it not to share user data it collects via WhatsApp on other platforms within the group.

The Competition Commission of India directed Meta that WhatsApp will not share user data with other companies or products within the US technology group for advertising purposes for five years.

The issue is related to WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, which was implemented on a "take-it-or-leave-it” basis, the commission said in a statement on Monday.

Users of the messaging app were required to accept its updated terms in order to continue using the service, which constituted an abuse of Meta’s dominant position, it said.

Before the revised privacy policy in 2021, WhatsApp users were given the option to decide whether they wanted to share their data with Facebook, but WhatsApp made data sharing with Meta mandatory for all users under the new terms of service, the commission said.

It said sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies for purposes other than providing WhatsApp services "shall not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp service in India.” — Bernama