EU privacy authorities: WhatsApp and Facebook data sharing cannot continue yet

The Article 29 Working Group, which brings together all EU privacy authorities, has sent a letter to WhatsApp. The organization is not satisfied with the steps WhatsApp has taken so far and says that data sharing with Facebook cannot continue yet.

The letter states that the organization made all its reservations clear at the end of last year and that WhatsApp in the meantime “has not offered a satisfactory solution, despite the fact that quite some time has passed.” The working group notes that WhatsApp has now published a section in its faq, in which it provides European users with additional information about the data sharing with Facebook announced last year. The working group says that this measure is not sufficient to comply with EU privacy rules.

For example, WhatsApp processes the data based on the consent of its users, but according to the working group, the requirements for consent have not been met. For example, consent must be given freely and on the basis of sufficient information. Also, the sharing of data between WhatsApp and its parent company could not take place on the basis of a legitimate interest of the company without ‘adequate controls and safeguards for users’.

The privacy authorities inform WhatsApp that they have created a task force led by the British privacy watchdog. The company must work with them to find a solution to the aforementioned problems. Until that solution is available, the working group does not want data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook to continue. WhatsApp stopped that practice about a year ago, after the working group first requested it. In April, it seemed that an agreement between WhatsApp and the privacy authorities would soon be reached.