The ‘Article 29’ group of member states’ national data protection authorities will examine the confidentiality and data sharing policy of rapid-messaging service WhatsApp, according to reports in Nextinpact magazine on Monday 29 August.
The decision follows the announcement by the British ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) that it is going to investigate the user conditions for WhatsApp, which allows data to be shared with Facebook.
WhatsApp has announced new user conditions and a new confidentiality policy, mainly with the aim of sharing information between itself and its owner, Facebook. Facebook would be given telephone numbers and other data to get to know the user better, offer better suggestions and advertising on Facebook and combat spam, explains Nextinpact.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says it has been informed of the changes and the organisations do not need the ICO’s approval to change their user conditions, but they do have to comply with the data protection law, which is what ICO is investigating. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)