venturebeat : Facebook bows to EU pressure and pauses WhatsApp data sharing

Facebook bows to EU pressure and pauses WhatsApp data sharing

Facebook's plan to glean more data from WhatsApp users has hit an obstacle in Europe.The social network is "pausing" some data-sharing activities after regulators across the continent called on the companies to clarify WhatsApp's messaging around permissions and provide more details on how the data will be used.To recap, Facebook acquired mobile messaging app WhatsApp back in 2014, and the two companies were adamant that advertising would be off-limits within WhatsApp.

After UK and Germany, WhatsApp stops data sharing across Europe

"We hope to continue our detailed conversations with the UK Information Commissioner's Office and other data protection officials,""We remain open to working collaboratively to address their questions."WhatsApp had its fair share of legal problems recently.Government officials in both the UK and Germany made the team behind the popular app stop sharing user information with its parent company – Facebook – due to security concerns.The messaging app shared information, such as phone numbers, photos, profile names and other user identifiable info with Facebook, so it can test new features for businesses.Naturally, watchdogs across the globe were not happy with the new WhatsApp Terms of Service and pushed for a change, despite the reassurances by the team behind the messaging app that information will be encrypted and unreadable by Facebook and WhatsApp employees.Now, the already infamous data sharing practice will probably be put on ice across the entirety of the EU, until the matter is resolved.Facebook officials told The Financial Times.Facebook's public image has taken a few hard knocks the past few months.

Facebook halts WhatsApp data sharing across Europe

In late October, The Article 29 Working Party, which is comprised of the privacy leaders from each of the EU's 28 nations, warned WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum that it had "serious concerns" about changes to the messaging app's terms of service.Users were told that phone numbers, profile names, photos, online status and other activities would be shared with its parent company to test new features that would help them interact with businesses, such as receiving fraud notifications from a bank or news of a cancelled flight from an airline.WhatsApp maintained that messages would be secured by end-to-end encryption and would be unreadable by Facebook and WhatsApp staff, but privacy experts continued to press the two companies.