EU privacy regulators push WhatsApp for more info

Nieuws Mobiel Europa 20 DEC 2016
EU privacy regulators push WhatsApp for more info
EU privacy regulators have asked WhatsApp to explain its privacy policy better and whether it's sharing any user data with parent company Facebook.

The so-called Article 29 group wrote to WhatsApp already in October after the company said it would start sharing data with Facebook. WhatsApp subsequently agreed to suspend the practice following pressure from data protection authorities in Europe. 

However, the regulators noted in a new letter to the company that WhatsApp stopped the information sharing only for the purposes of "improving Facebook products and advertising experience". They want to know if WhatsApp is also sharing user data with Facebook for other purposes. The Article 29 group also called for a more detailed explanation of WhatsApp's privacy policy and answers to the questions in its previous letter from October. 

Furthermore, they pointed out that WhatsApp is not living up to the requirements of the EU data protection directive in that it has not appointed a representative in each EU country where it's processing personal data. This requirement was recently confirmed in a case against the company by the Dutch Data Protection Authority. The Dutch and Spanish regulators are leading the work group handling the case with WhatsApp for the EU regulators. 

Categories:

Mobiel

Companies:

Facebook,  WhatsApp

Regions:

Europa

Tags:

Messaging, Regulations, IT - applications, Consumer

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