“Some countries, such as India, are considering or have passed legislation implementing data protection requirements or requiring local storage and processing of data or similar requirements that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services,” the company said.
It added that new legislation or regulatory decisions that restrict its ability to collect and use information about minors may also result in limitations on its advertising services or its ability to offer products and services to minors in certain jurisdictions.
The Joint Committee of the Parliament studying the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 submitted its report in December. The report and the draft legislation submitted by the committee recommended that sensitive personal data shall continue to be stored in India under Section 33 of the Bill and its transfer will be allowed outside India only under certain conditions under Section 34.
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The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) places similar conditions on data transfer to only those countries which fulfil the ‘data adequacy’ norms, Indian officials have argued.
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They have also said that the storage of sensitive personal data within India would support the growth of hyperscale data centres and an innovative data-driven economy.
Meta also said that it has been managing investigations and lawsuits in Europe, India, and other jurisdictions. It specifically mentioned the lawsuit pending before the Supreme Court of India and government inquiries and lawsuits regarding the 2021 update to WhatsApp’s terms of service and privacy policy. Whatsapp has also challenged the Indian government’s Intermediary Rules which mandate traceability of messages and would require the Meta owned instant messaging app to break its end-to-end encryption.
“If we are unable to transfer data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, or if we are restricted from sharing data among our products and services, it could affect our ability to provide our services, the manner in which we provide our services or our ability to target ads, which could adversely affect our financial results,” Meta said.
Further, the company said that the issue is not restricted to India and went on to add that it may even have to retreat its flagship platforms Facebook and Instagram from the EU region owing to the data privacy regulations in Europe.
“If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on SCCs or rely upon other alternative means of data transfers from Europe to the United States, we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations,” the filing read.
