Entities ask that Meta company be fined more than R$1.5 billion
The MPF (Federal Public Ministry) and Idec (Consumer Defense Institute) filed a lawsuit against WhatsApp, asking that the messaging company be ordered to pay compensation of R$1.7 billion for collective damages.
According to the MPF, Meta violated the rights of app users in Brazil by forcing them to adhere to the new rules and, in doing so, enabling the abusive collection and sharing of personal data with other platforms of the Meta Group, including Facebook and Instagram. The National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) is also the target of the action.
The compensation demanded is based on amounts that WhatsApp has already been ordered to pay in Europe for similar irregularities, considering the proximity of Brazilian and European legislation on data protection.
From 2021 to 2023, the European Union imposed fines of 230.5 million euros on the company for omissions and illegalities in the app’s privacy policy that increased the sharing of users’ personal information on the continent. After appeals, the sanctions were upheld in court.
In addition to compensation, the MPF and Idec are asking that Whatsapp be required to immediately stop sharing personal data for purposes specific to other companies in the Meta Group, such as the personalized display of third-party advertisements.
The action also requires that the application provide simple features that allow users to exercise their right to refuse changes brought about by the platform’s privacy policy from 2021 onwards – if they do not agree with its terms – or even to go back and cancel any subscription they may have already made to these rules, without being prohibited from continuing to use the messaging service.
According to the lawsuit, WhatsApp’s practices violate several provisions of the General Data Protection Law (LGPD, Law 13.709/18), including the right granted to citizens to be fully informed and free from coercion when expressing consent for their personal data to be used in the market. The irregularities also violated guarantees provided for in the Internet Civil Rights Framework (Law 12.965/14) and the Consumer Defense Code (Law 8.078/90).
