Nov 19 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms ( META ) said on

Tuesday it plans to appeal an order by India's competition

watchdog that restricts the U.S. tech firm from sharing data for

advertising between WhatsApp and its other applications and also

imposed a $25.4 million fine.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in its order

on Monday that restrictions on data sharing would be placed for

five years.

It had begun an investigation into WhatsApp's 2021 privacy

policy in March that year. The policy allowed data sharing

between Meta and its units, sparking a global backlash.

"Sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta

companies... for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp

service shall not be made a condition for users to access

WhatsApp Service in India," the CCI said on Monday.

A spokesperson for Meta said on Tuesday that the 2021 update

did not change the privacy of people's personal messages.

"We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or

lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this

update," the spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank

Dhaniwala)