Barely a week after being fined $220 million by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for a data privacy violation, WhatsApp is considering suspending its operations in the country.
The FCCPC has made additional demands, including stopping user data sharing with Facebook companies and third parties without consent, providing information on data collection, and restoring user control over data usage. WhatsApp claims these demands are “impossible” to meet and would impact users globally.
If WhatsApp ceases operations in Nigeria, it would have significant consequences for individuals and small businesses that rely on the platform. Privacy lawyers have questioned the FCCPC’s basis for the fine, and government figures have expressed concerns over the fine’s proportionality. WhatsApp is urgently appealing the order to avoid any impact on users.
“We want to be really clear that technically, based on the order, it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally.
“This order contains multiple inaccuracies and misrepresents how WhatsApp works. WhatsApp relies on limited data to run our service and keep users safe, and it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally without Meta’s infrastructure. We are urgently appealing the order to avoid any impact on users,” a WhatsApp spokesperson told TechCabal via email.
Meta did not comment on the FCCPC’s claim that WhatsApp did not allow users to opt out of the 2021 policy. However, it insisted that its January 2021 Privacy Policy update does not include sharing user data.
“While traditionally mobile carriers and operators store this information, we believe that keeping these records for two billion users would be both a privacy and security risk and we don’t do it,” the privacy document reads.
If WhatsApp ceases operations in Nigeria, it will have enormous consequences for individuals and small business owners. Many SMEs rely on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook to reach their target customers.
Three privacy lawyers questioned the FCCPC’s reference to the National Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) as a basis for the fine. Enacted in 2019 by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), NDPR is the primary data protection framework in Nigeria.
Two lawyers who asked not to be named say the NDPR will not stand up to scrutiny in court and asked if a government regulation could be authoritative in a matter as significant as privacy.
While Meta is undoubtedly subject to regulatory oversight, the proportionality of the $220 million fine levied by the FCCPC is questionable, two government figures who asked not to be named said.
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