European consumer body BEUC has filed a complaint with the European Commission and the European network of consumer protection authorities against WhatsApp, citing multiple breaches of EU consumer rights.
BEUC said WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook, has been “unduly” pressuring its users to accept new terms of use and private policy that are neither transparent nor even comprehensible for users. The consumer body said people have been pushed to accept WhatsApp’s policy updates, impairing their freedom of choice, and that this was in breach of the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices.
In addition, explanations for the updates themselves are not in plain and intelligible language. This means it is basically impossible for people really understand what consequences the changes have on their privacy, particularly in relation to the transfer of their personal data to Facebook and other third parties. This ambiguity breaches EU consumer law which obliges companies to use clear and transparent contract terms and commercial communications.
Finally, BEUC said WhatsApp’s conduct is aggravated by the fact that it is making users accept a privacy policy currently under scrutiny by the European Data Protection Authorities for breaches of EU data protection law. The consumer body added that while its complaint is separate from that investigation, it is calling on data protection authorities to speed up their probes and urging these to work in close cooperation on these issues with the European network of consumer authorities.
