Facebook's controversial use of WhatsApp customer data is under increased scrutiny in the European Union, after regulators cast doubts about the social media giant's updated policy.
Facebook's practices should be examined by the Irish privacy watchdog, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), a panel of European Union authorities, said Thursday. , which is the main regulator in the region, according to Bloomberg, and seen by Al Arabiya.net.
In contrast, the EDPB Council refrained from imposing a temporary EU-wide ban on data access, at the request of the Data Privacy Commissioner in Hamburg, where German authorities imposed In May it ordered a three-month ban on Facebook to prevent it from collecting German user data from its WhatsApp unit, and asked EU regulators to make an EU-wide decision.
Given the high potential for breaches in particular of the integrity and security of WhatsApp and other Facebook units, the Commission considered that this matter requires further investigations, the EU Commission said in a statement. fast.
The investigation will add to about 28 investigations the Irish Data Protection Commission has opened with Silicon Valley giants, including Apple and Google.
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation has given data regulators unprecedented powers to fine companies up to 4% of their annual sales.
Given the lack of information regarding how the data is processed for marketing purposes, cooperation with other Facebook companies and regarding WhatsApp, EU monitors said the Irish authority should investigate On Facebook's role in data processing.
