WhatsApp may suspend its operations in Nigeria following a $220 million fine imposed by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for a data privacy breach.
The FCCPC has mandated that WhatsApp stop sharing user data with other Facebook companies and third parties without explicit user consent. The Commission also requires WhatsApp to provide detailed information on its data collection practices and improve user control over data usage.
In response, a WhatsApp spokesperson stated to TechCabal, “We want to be clear that, technically, based on the order, it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally.”
Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, has yet to address the FCCPC’s concerns regarding user opt-out options from the 2021 privacy policy but maintains that the update does not involve sharing user data.
