German regulator bans Facebook from using WhatsApp data
By: DW
Frankfurt: German regulators told Facebook on Tuesday to stop processing user data from its instant messaging service WhatsApp, citing a privacy policy update that could violate European data protection rules.
Johannes Caspar, data protection commissioner in Hamburg, the city where Facebook has its German headquarters, issued an order banning the social media giant from processing German users WhatsApp data for three months. The order is intended to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the many millions of users throughout Germany who give their consent to the terms of use, Caspar said in a statement.
WhatsApp s privacy policy update has already been delayed due to the backlash from users but plans to share more data with its parent company, Facebook will be fully rolled out on 15 May.
The app already shares data with the social network and has done since 2016. However, it will now also share payment and transactional data in a bid to improve targeted advertising as the service moves towards online shopping. The order is intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the many millions of users who provided their consent to the terms of use throughout Germany, said Johannes Caspar, the head of the German data protection authority (DPA).
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