Facebook & WhatsApp: data matching prevented
In Germany, a data protection commissioner has banned Facebook from collecting and storing data from WhatsApp users with immediate effect. In addition, Facebook would have to delete data already transmitted by WhatsApp.
The roughly 35 million WhatsApp users in Germany must be able to decide for themselves whether they want their account to be connected to Facebook, Hamburg's data protection commissioner said Tuesday. "To do this, Facebook must ask them for permission in advance. This has not happened."
"Facebook complies with EU data protection law," a company spokeswoman said. "We are open to working with the Hamburg data protection authority in trying to answer their questions and address any concerns."
The order of the data protectors will be challenged, announced aGroup spokeswoman an. "Facebook complies with EU data protection law," explainedShe. "We are open to working with the Hamburg data protection authority on theAttempt to collaborate, answer their questions, and address any concernsclearing out."
Data sharing is also an issue in Switzerland. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) wants to ensure that any adjustments to data processing on this service will also apply to users in Switzerland, as a spokesperson wrote in response to a query from the SDA news agency. The FDPIC is in contact with the European data protection authorities and is closely following their clarifications on the subject of WhatsApp.
Violation of data protection law
"The fact that this is now happening after all is not only misleading users and the public, but also constitutes a violation of national data protection law," the data protection authority said in justifying the administrative order.
The Hamburg data protection commissioner said he was convinced that a possibleprocess, "We would not have issued such an order ifwould not, in our opinion, be highly probable,That litigation will end in our favor."
The Hamburg data protection commissioner had already tried to take action against Facebook several times in the past. Most recently, he wanted to enforce that Facebook also allows logins under a pseudonym, but failed before the Hamburg Administrative Court. The court had referred the Hamburg data protection officer to Facebook's branch in Ireland, which operates the social network in Europe. (SDA)
