Facebook, Jio should be transparent on data sharing: Experts

NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: Facebook and Reliance Jio should be transparent about the data being shared between them, experts said. If the $5.7-billion deal is approved, the two companies together will have a subscriber base that would give them a near-monopoly, touching most Indians using the internet.

Facebook’s messaging platform WhatsApp is used by two out of three smartphone users in India, while more than half of India’s over 600 million internet users access the social network every month. In less than four years, Reliance Jio has emerged as India’s biggest telecom service provider with 388 million subscribers. IDC estimates that over 450 million smartphones are used in India.