WhatsApp Won¡¯t Share European Users Data With Facebook Due To Strict EU Privacy Laws
Europe's strict GDPR is helping safeguard its citizens' data from misuse.
The past few days have been difficult for WhatsApp and its users, after the company announced that it has some changes in line with respect to the way it will deal with user data on the messaging platform, with the major one being how it plans on sharing some part of the data with its parent company, Facebook.
Reuters
This definitely caused a ton of discomfort amongst its users, forcing many to jump the ship and look for better, more secure alternatives.
However, in case you were wondering if all WhatsApp users will be forced to share their data with Facebook, you¡¯d be surprised to know that it isn¡¯t the case with WhatsApp users in Europe.
Recent reports have revealed that even though users in Europe have received the full-screen notification for the new terms and services, it doesn¡¯t consist of the clause that involves data sharing with Facebook.
This was clarified by Niamh Sweeney, Director of Policy for WhatsApp, EMEA, over a series of tweets, ¡°It has been incorrectly reported that WhatsApp's latest Terms of Service and Privacy Policy update requires users in the European Region to agree to the sharing of data with Facebook for ads purposes in order to continue using the service. This is false.¡±
Twitter
She added, ¡°There are no changes to WhatsApp's data-sharing practices in Europe arising from this update. It remains the case that WhatsApp does not share European Region WhatsApp user data with Facebook for the purpose of Facebook using this data to improve its products or ads. The latest update to our Privacy Policy is about providing clearer, more detailed information to our users on how and why we use data.¡±
Why won¡¯t WhatsApp users in Europe share data with Facebook?
In case you were wondering why Europe gets the option to not have data shared with Facebook, it's due to the strict GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) that is in place to protect its citizens from misuse of their private data.
Reuters
So even though they will have to agree to the new sets of privacy policies and terms laid out by the company, their data will still remain off-access for its parent company.
This begs us to ask the question if India had a strong data protection law -- which is still in the consultation phase -- would WhatsApp have done something similar with data-sharing of Facebook as it did in Europe for European users?
