Does WhatsApp Need User Consent for Ads? CCI Seeks Clarification from NCLAT

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has asked the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to clarify whether the tribunal’s recent judgment requires WhatsApp to secure user consent when sharing data for advertising as well as for non-advertising uses, PTI reported.

The CCI’s petition for clarification is listed for further hearing on Nov 25.

The move follows NCLAT’s Nov 4 order that partially set aside the CCI’s five-year ban on WhatsApp sharing user data with other Meta entities for advertising purposes, while upholding a ₹213.14 crore penalty and finding that WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy update amounted to abuse of dominance.

CCI Application Details

CCI lawyers say parts of NCLAT’s judgment appear to require consent for all data sharing, but the concluding paragraphs leave ambiguity about whether advertising uses were intended to be covered.

CCI counsel Samar Bansal reportedly said the regulator’s application asks the tribunal to confirm that “user consent must be taken regardless of whether WhatsApp is sharing user data with other Facebook companies for advertising purposes or for non-advertising purposes.” The CCI says certain passages in the NCLAT ruling read that way, while other paragraphs, notably the operative conclusion, appear to limit the requirement to non-advertising uses, generating the need for judicial clarification.

NCLAT Order

NCLAT’s earlier analysis observed that cross-platform data sharing between WhatsApp and Meta increased Meta’s advantage in display advertising and could create barriers to entry for rivals, but it also held that the CCI’s finding that Meta had leveraged dominance across distinct legal entities was not sustainable in respect of certain claims.

The tribunal nevertheless left the monetary penalty intact and sustained portions of the CCI’s finding that WhatsApp’s 2021 policy update unfairly coerced users.

Clarity on Consent

The precise scope of any consent requirement will shape what commercial data sharing is permitted in India and how digital platforms design privacy prompts and product integration across corporate groups.

If NCLAT confirms that explicit user consent is needed for advertising uses too, platforms may have to rework cross-service targeting and measurement flows or build consent-gating mechanisms, outcomes that could ripple across ad markets and product design.

The case stems from CCI’s November 2024 order against Meta and WhatsApp over the 2021 privacy-policy update, when the regulator found users were forced into a “take it or leave it” choice, a practice the watchdog said amounted to an abuse of dominance. Meta and WhatsApp challenged the order at NCLAT; the tribunal’s mixed ruling triggered both sighs of relief and fresh questions for regulators and industry participants.