macrumors : Facebook Halts Collection of WhatsApp User Data Across Europe

Facebook Halts Collection of WhatsApp User Data Across Europe

Facebook has temporarily halted the collection of WhatsApp user data across Europe after pressure from privacy watchdogs, according to the Financial Times .The move follows news last week that the social media company, which owns the popular chat platform, agreed to pause data collection in the U.K. while a government probe there inquired into WhatsApp's privacy policy.The Irish Data Protection Commissioner's office, which acts as Facebook's European regulatory body, confirmed to FT that the company had suspended European data collection since last week.The change in data gathering means that WhatsApp users across Europe will no longer have select information shared with Facebook, including the phone number a user verifies during the registration process and the last time a user accessed the service.Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, but only began collecting data from users of the chat service in August this year .In September, German authorities ordered a halt to the practice in the country after ruling that it was an infringement of national data protection law.Last month, pan-European privacy watchdogs signed an open letter to WhatsApp saying they had serious concerns over the privacy policy change, and urged Facebook to pause data collection until appropriate legal protections could be assured.

Facebook Halts WhatsApp User Data Collection In Europe

Facebook Halts WhatsApp User Data Collection In EuropeBack in August, Facebook announced that it had started to collect WhatsApp user data, two years after acquiring the instant messaging (IM) app for $21.8 billion.The social media giant claimed that WhatsApp would be collecting and sharing some data with Facebook in order to better filter spam and help people find their friends on both services.Of course, this practice would also improve the company's targeted advertising business.

Facebook Halts WhatsApp Data Sharing In Europe

Back in August, Facebook announced that WhatsApp will soon start to share their data with the social network.Users were given the option to opt out of this, and you might have seen this reminder being shared across your social network and in messages.Now it seems that thanks to the backlash Facebook has gotten, they will be halting data sharing in Europe.