Nigeria fines Meta $220 million for violating privacy and data laws

Nigeria has fined WhatsApp's parent company, Meta Platforms, $220 million for violating data privacy and rights laws.

Nigeria accuses Meta's WhatsApp of violating privacy laws

The Nigerian Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) began an investigation into WhatsApp’s privacy policy in May 2021 and found it applied to Nigerian users without following current standards of fairness. The investigation, which was jointly conducted with the Nigerian Data Protection Commission, lasted for 38 months.

The FCCPC said Meta used data from Nigerian users on its platforms without their consent. Meta's actions allegedly abused its dominant market position by imposing privacy policies that were unfavorable to users and discriminating against Nigerians compared to users in other regions.

FCCPC head Adamu Abdullahi said the investigation found that Meta's policies did not give users the option or opportunity to self-identify or have control over the collection, use and sharing of personal data.

For its part, WhatsApp objected to the decision of Nigerian authorities as well as the fine and affirmed that it would appeal this decision.

Meta is ordered to immediately restore control over the use of Nigerian users’ data. It is also required to ensure that its privacy policy complies with applicable data protection laws and to immediately stop sharing WhatsApp user information with other Meta companies and other third parties.

Previously, in May, Türkiye's competition authority also fined Meta 1.2 billion lira for sharing data between Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.

Meta is also facing scrutiny from Europe and other jurisdictions over alleged data protection violations. Its plans to use user data to train AI models without user consent have also been criticized.

Meanwhile, South Africa's competition regulator has also announced plans to investigate whether digital platforms, including Meta, are competing unfairly with news publishers by using their content to generate advertising revenue.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nigeria-phat-meta-220-trieu-usd-do-vi-pham-luat-quyen-rieng-tu-va-du-lieu-279519.html