The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) of São Paulo has filed a lawsuit in the Regional Federal Court of the 3rd Region, seeking R$ 1.7 billion ($ 311 million) in compensation from WhatsApp for alleged violations of the LGPD (General Data Protection Law).

The civil lawsuit (ACP) has an unprecedented value in the field of data protection.

The ACP concerns the privacy policy adopted by the messaging app in 2021, which is still in effect.

The institutions say that WhatsApp "forced people to adhere" to the data sharing policy between Meta group platforms, which also owns Instagram and Facebook.

The MPF claims that Meta’s conduct in 2021 was illegal, violating rights to comprehensive information and protection against coercion during consent for the use of personal data by the market.

Meta stated that it had not been notified and would not comment on the case.

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