India antitrust watchdog orders probe into WhatsApp's new privacy policy

FILE PHOTO: A logo of WhatsApp is pictured on a T-shirt worn by a WhatsApp-Reliance Jio representative during a drive by the two companies to educate users, on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's competition watchdog on Wednesday ordered a probe into a WhatsApp privacy policy update, saying the Facebook Inc-owned messaging service had breached antitrust laws.

The update announced in January, which will take effect in May, allows WhatsApp to share some user data with Facebook and its units, prompting a global backlash including in India, its biggest market with more than 500 million users.