New Delhi. WhatsApp has now become an important part of our lives. This platform, once used only for text, is now also used for calling and payments. The second big thing is that this platform is absolutely free, and also promises to remain free always. But do you know that it is free just to say the least, but in reality every user has to pay its price. If you do not know about this then you should read the decision of Competition Commission of India (CCI) which came yesterday. The nuances of this decision should be understood.
Actually, CCI has imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta (parent company of WhatsApp). The allegation is that he has misused his dominance. Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta, however, plans to appeal further in this regard. A Meta representative told Moneycontrol that “We disagree with the CCI’s decision… We are committed to finding a way forward that allows us to continue to provide people and businesses with the experience they expect from us.” We do.”
Also read – 213 crore fine, ban on sharing WhatsApp user data, CCI taught law to Meta
Let’s talk about the policy, which was implemented by WhatsApp from 8 February 2021. What was there in that policy, due to which the threat to the privacy of the users had increased? Full reference to users’ concerns policy squeeze Something like this-
In the new policy, users were forced to accept the condition of sharing their data with Facebook (Meta), otherwise they would have to stop using WhatsApp. In the earlier policy (2016), doing so was optional, meaning the user could accept it or not if he wanted. WhatsApp’s “take it or leave it” policy curtailed users’ rights to consent.
In countries like India, where data protection laws are not very strict, this policy left users more vulnerable. Chats on business accounts will not be completely end-to-end encrypted. If these chats are hosted on Meta’s servers, the risk of data misuse or theft increases.
Due to the Data Protection Act (GDPR) in Europe, the users there got some relief, but it was not strictly followed in India and other countries. Meaning there was no uniformity in the policy in different areas. In such a situation, people started losing trust in WhatsApp.
Many users even had the misconception that their private chats would also be shared with WhatsApp. Due to this, millions of people thought it better to leave WhatsApp and shift to apps like Signal and Telegram. The prevalence of Telegram increased in India.
Is WhatsApp really free?
Although WhatsApp claims to keep the data of its users safe, there are some ways in which it also earns money by using the data. Companies communicate with customers through WhatsApp business application. Customer data may be used in this process.
Although WhatsApp does not show ads directly, its parent company Meta (Facebook) uses user data for targeting to show ads. This means that if you talk to someone on WhatsApp about buying furniture, then after reading this data, you will see only furniture advertisements from the company. These advertisements do not appear on WhatsApp, but you can see them on Facebook and its other platforms. This means that the company is actually ‘making money’ from using your data.
What else is there in CCI’s decision?
CCI imposes a monetary penalty of ₹213.14 crore on Meta for 2021 Privacy Policy Update, along with a cease-and-desist direction and specific behavioral remedies. pic.twitter.com/JUNCHP9oF0
— CCI (@CCI_India) November 18, 2024
