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European Union data protection authorities said they had serious
concerns about WhatsApp's recent change in privacy policy in
which it would share users' phone numbers with Facebook, its
first change in policy since Facebook bought the messaging
service.
The authorities, known as the Article 29 Working Party,
"requested WhatsApp to communicate all relevant information to
the Working Party as soon as possible and urged the company to
pause the sharing of users' data until the appropriate legal
protections could be assured."
A spokeswoman for WhatsApp said the company was working with
data protection authorities to address their questions.
"We’ve had constructive conversations, including before our
update, and we remain committed to respecting applicable law,”
she said.
The watchdogs also wrote to Yahoo over a massive data breach
that exposed the email credentials of 500 million users, as well
as its scanning of customers' incoming emails for specific
information provided by U.S. intelligence officials.
They asked the company to communicate all aspects of the data
breach to the EU authorities, to notify the affected users of
the "adverse effects" and to cooperate with all "upcoming
national data protection authorities' enquiries and/or
investigations.
"Yahoo was invited to provide information on the legal basis and
the compatibility with EU law of any such activity," the
watchdogs said in a statement regarding the email scanning.
The Yahoo and WhatsApp cases will be discussed by regulators in
November.
(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; editing by Jason Neely)
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