The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday ordered a detailed probe into WhatsApp's new privacy policy and terms of services, saying the firm contravened the provisions of competition laws through its exploitative and exclusionary conduct in the garb of policy update.
"A thorough and detailed investigation is required to ascertain the full extent, scope and impact of data sharing through involuntary consent of users," the fair trade regulator said.
It asked its investigation arm, the Director General (DG), to carry out an investigation into the matter. It also asked the DG to complete the investigation and submit a report within a period of 60 days from the receipt of order.
In January, WhatsApp had come out with an update in its privacy policy and terms of service that required users to agree to sharing of their data of chat with business accounts, payments and transaction information with its parent company Facebook and third parties associated with it. After criticism from users over sharing of their data, the company postponed the rollout of the policy update to May 15 from February 8.
In its order against WhatsApp LLC and its parent Facebook, Inc., CCI said having considered media reports and the potential impact of the policy and terms for the users of messaging app and the market, the Commission on January 19 decided to take suo moto cognisance of the matter.
(More details to follow)
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