The regulator in the city-state of Hamburg said that it had
opened emergency proceedings against Facebook after WhatsApp earlier this year
informed users that they would need to consent to new data terms or stop using
the service.
"We have reason to believe that the data sharing policy
between WhatsApp and Facebook is being impermissibly enforced due to the lack
of voluntary and informed consent," said Hamburg's data protection officer
Johannes Caspar.
Caspar, who leads domestic oversight of Facebook under Germany's
federal system as its country office is in Hamburg, said he was opening a
formal administrative procedure "to prevent an illegal mass exchange of
data", with a view to reaching a decision before May 15.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said: “Our recent update includes
new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides
further transparency about how we collect and use data.
"To be clear, by accepting WhatsApp’s updated terms of
service, users are not agreeing to any expansion in our ability to share data
with Facebook, and the update does not impact the privacy of their messages
with friends or family."
The regulatory action opens a new front in Germany over
Facebook's privacy policies, with the national antitrust regulator already
waging a legal battle over data practices it alleges reflect an abuse of the
social network's market dominance.
Since 2018, online privacy has been subject to a European
Union rulebook, called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Under the
GDPR, Ireland leads oversight of Facebook because the company's European
headquarters is there.
Caspar said that he was seeking to impose a three-month
freeze on WhatsApp's collection of user data, citing "extraordinary
circumstances" foreseen in the GDPR. The measures can be extended by the
European Data Protection Board, a forum that groups regulators from the bloc's
27 member states.
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