Germany privacy manager send strong message to Facebook

Facebook and WhatsApp promised in the wake of
the Silicon Valley giant’s 2014 acquisition of the
messaging app that they would not share data,
Hamburg’s Commissioner for Data Protection and
Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar
recalled in a statement.
He added that Facebook would be required to
delete any data already received from WhatsApp
in Germany.
“It has to be (the users’) decision whether they
want to connect their account with Facebook,”
Caspar said. “Facebook has to ask for their
permission in advance.”
WhatsApp announced in August that it would
begin sharing data with Facebook, in a bid to
allow better targeted advertising and fight spam
on the platform.
Currently, users of the instant messenger must
opt out of sending information to Facebook
through WhatsApp’s settings on their
smartphone.
Caspar said that he had acted to protect the
privacy of 35 million WhatsApp users in Germany
— a fraction of some one billion worldwide — and
that of people saved in their address books,
whose details might also be forwarded under the
data-sharing arrangement.
Facebook’s activities in German-speaking regions
are managed through its subsidiary in Hamburg,
placing the firm under the jurisdiction of the
regulator in the northern port city.
Spokespeople for Facebook could not
immediately be reached for comment on the
ruling.
WhatsApp’s announcement that it would share
information with Facebook came just four
months after the service introduced end-to-end
encryption by default, saying that the content of
messages would become unreadable for anyone
except the sender and receiver.
In mid-September, the European Commission
recommended tighter privacy and security
requirements for services including WhatsApp
and Microsoft-owned video calling service Skype,
saying they should be regulated more like
traditional telecoms.
Subjecting the internet firms to such rules could
force them to offer emergency calling services
and to obey stricter privacy rules.