The CCI investigation could bring to light new issues that lie at the intersection of privacy and competition, which could lead to more such cases, stated Anisha Chand, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co.

Big technology firms would have to tread carefully when it comes to data sharing and privacy policy, as the decision of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to probe WhatsApp could open the floodgates for more such cases, stated experts.

The competition regulator’s decision is significant also as it signals the CCI’s recognition of privacy as a competition concern, they added.

The CCI investigation could bring to light new issues that lie at the intersection of privacy and competition, which could lead to more such cases, stated Anisha Chand, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co.

On Wednesday, the CCI ordered a probe into WhatsApp’s conduct over its January privacy policy update, observing that the decision to share user data across Facebook organizations seemed to be a case of abuse of dominance.

“The order sets an important precedent in terms of what manner of conduct in digital markets may be assessed by the CCI for possible anti-competitive effects,” stated Kanika Chaudhary Nayar, partner at Luthra & Luthra.

This will have large implications for big tech firms, Vaibhav Chouske, partner at J Sagar Associates made a statement.

“Big tech companies should watch out for new categories of abuse that are likely to be road-tested by the CCI and should tread carefully when it comes to exclusive licensing or exclusive access to important data sets,” Choukse stated.
The commission also raised the issue of the strong network effect that WhatsApp enjoyed. This was evident from the fact that despite an increase in the downloads of competing apps like Signal and Telegram, the user base of WhatsApp apparently did not suffer any significant loss, the order has stated.

Network effect is a phenomenon in which the value of a service improves when it has a bigger number of users.

While the CCI is also investigating Google’s GPay over its exclusive payment option for in-app purchases in Google Play Store, the findings from the WhatsApp probe are unlikely to have any bearing on such cases as the commission deals with these on a case-to-case basis, stated Dhanendra Kumar, former chairman of the CCI.

The competition watchdog has had the opportunity to  explore relationship between data sharing and competition during its assessment of Facebook’s deal with Reliance to acquire a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms.