EU data protection watchdogs warn WhatsApp, Yahoo on privacy
EU data protection watchdogs warn WhatsApp, Yahoo on
privacy
By Julia Fioretti Saturday, 29 October 2016 16:15 GMT
BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - European privacy watchdogs
warned WhatsApp on Friday over sharing user information with parent company
Facebook, and cautioned Yahoo over a 2014 data breach and scanning of customer
emails for U.S. intelligence purposes.
The popular messaging service's recent change in privacy
policy to start sharing users' phone numbers with Facebook - the first policy
change since WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 - has attracted
regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
The Italian antitrust watchdog on Friday also announced a
separate probe into whether WhatsApp obliged users to agree to sharing personal
data with Facebook.
The European Union's 28 data protection authorities said
in a statement they had requested WhatsApp stop sharing users' data with
Facebook until the "appropriate legal protections could be assured"
to avoid falling foul of EU data protection law.
WhatsApp's new privacy policy involves the sharing of
information with Facebook for purposes that were not included in the terms of
service when users signed up, raising questions about the validity of users'
consent, the authorities, known as the Article 29 Working Party (WP29), said.
A spokeswoman for WhatsApp said the company was working
with data protection authorities to address their questions.
"We've had constructive conversations, including
before our update, and we remain committed to respecting applicable law,"
she said.
Facebook has had run-ins with European privacy watchdogs
in the past over its processing of users' data. However, the fines that
regulators can levy are paltry in comparison to the revenues of the big U.S.
tech companies concerned.
The EU data protection authorities also wrote to Yahoo
over a massive data breach that exposed the email credentials of 500 million
users, as well as its scanning of customers' incoming emails for specific
information provided by U.S. intelligence officials.
Yahoo said they were aware of the letter and would work
to respond as appropriate.
The watchdogs asked Yahoo to communicate all aspects of
the data breach to the EU authorities, to notify the affected users of the
"adverse effects" and to cooperate with all "upcoming national
data protection authorities' enquiries and/or investigations.
"The reports (about email scanning) are concerning
to WP29 and it will be important to understand the legal basis and
justification for any such surveillance activity, including an explanation of
how this is compatible with EU law and protection for EU citizens," the
watchdogs said in their letter to Yahoo.
The regulators will discuss the Yahoo and WhatsApp cases
in November. (Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Mark Potter and Stephen
Powell)
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