WhatsApp—Forced data sharing with Facebook/Meta led to mass user exodus and regulatory fines
In January 2021, WhatsApp announced mandatory data sharing with Meta including metadata, phone numbers, IP addresses, contacts, and app usage data - removing previous opt-out option. Users had until February 8 to accept or face account deletion. Led to 4,200% spike in Signal downloads, Competition Commission of India investigation, and Rs. 213.14 crore (~$26M) fine for violating Competition Act. Policy discriminated against Indian users compared to EU users under GDPR protections. Delayed to May 2021 after backlash.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
WhatsApp announced mandatory data sharing with Meta in January 2021, triggering 5,001% spike in Signal downloads and $25.4M India fine
On January 6, 2021, WhatsApp announced mandatory data sharing with Facebook/Meta including phone numbers, IP addresses, contacts, transaction data, and mobile device information - removing previous opt-out option. Users had until February 8 to accept or face account deletion. The 'take-it-or-leave-it' policy triggered immediate backlash: Signal saw 7.5 million installs Jan 6-10 (43× previous week), representing 5,001% year-over-year growth, while Telegram became January's most-downloaded app with 63M installs. Signal's servers were strained by demand. WhatsApp delayed implementation to May 15, 2021. In November 2024, Competition Commission of India ruled the policy an abuse of dominant position and fined Meta ₹213.14 crore ($25.4M), ordering 5-year ban on data sharing for advertising and mandatory opt-out for Indian users.