(Bloomberg) -- WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms Inc. has been fined $220 million by Nigeria’s antitrust agency, which said its privacy policy breached data and privacy laws.
The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission said it commenced an inquiry into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy of May 2021, and found that it was imposed on Nigerian users without following applicable standards of fairness.
The commission said a package of remedies Meta proposed in April didn’t resolve its concerns.
“In 2021 we went to users globally to explain how talking to businesses among other things would work and while there was a lot of confusion then, it’s actually proven quite popular,” according to a statement provided by a WhatsApp spokesperson. “We disagree with the decision today as well as the fine and we are appealing the decision.”
Meta was ordered to immediately reinstate the rights of Nigerian users to control the use of their data. The company was also ordered to ensure that its privacy policy complies with the applicable data protection laws, and immediately stop the process of sharing WhatsApp users’ information with other Facebook companies and third parties.
(Updates with WhatsApp comment in fourth paragraph.)
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