In its ruling on Monday, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said data sharing would be limited to five years.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday fined the US tech giant $25.4 million for antitrust violations over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy and ordered the messaging app to stop sharing user data for advertising purposes with other Meta-owned apps for five years, as noted. by Reuters.

In March 2021, the CCI launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy, which allowed mandatory exchange of data with Facebook (now Meta) and its companies as well as a wider range of data collection.

A Meta representative said: “We disagree with the ICC’s decision and are considering an appeal. »

The spokesperson added: “We are committed to finding a path forward that allows us to continue to deliver the experiences people and businesses expect from us.”

Prior to this update, consumers can choose whether or not to give the company access to their data. There are around 500 million active WhatsApp users in the country every month.

“Sharing user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies for purposes other than providing the WhatsApp service shall not be a condition for users to access the WhatsApp service in India,” the CCI said on Monday.

On Tuesday, a Meta representative said the 2021 update does not affect the privacy of users’ private communications.

“We have also ensured that no one will have their account deleted or lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this update,” a spokesperson said.