Found guilty of data sharing and other invasive practices, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram was issued with a $290-million penalty.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, was recently hit with three fines totalling more than $290-million in Nigeria. The fines were imposed by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Nigerian Data Protection Commission and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria.
Meta was accused of invasive practices against data subjects and consumers in Nigeria. The company denied the allegations and has challenged the fines in court.
What are the violations for which Meta has been fined?
The trouble began on 4 January 2021 when WhatsApp updated its privacy policy to introduce mandatory data-sharing with Facebook (now Meta) and its subsidiaries. The main change allowed WhatsApp to share user business interaction data with Facebook for marketing and advertising purposes.
