Facebook has agreed to suspend sharing personal data from WhatsApp in the UK for ads and product development, following an investigation by the UK privacy regulator. The Information Commissioner said already in August, shortly after Facebook announced the change in WhastApp's privacy policy, that it would investigate the matter. ICO Elizabeth Denham said she had concerns "that consumers weren’t being properly protected, and it’s fair to say the enquiries my team have made haven’t changed that view".
Following the investigation, the regulator "set out the law clearly to Facebook", and the company agreed "to pause" using data from UK WhatsApp users. The ICO asked Facebook and WhatsApp to sign an undertaking committing to better explaining to customers how their data will be used, and to giving users ongoing control over that information. The regulator was concerned about the short explanation provided to WhatsApp users and the limited, 30-day window for taking a decision on sharing their data with Facebook.
However, Facebook and WhatsApp haven’t yet agreed to the regulators demands. If Facebook starts using the data without valid consent, it could face enforcement action from the ICO, the regulator said. The ICO plans to continue pushing the issue, including in cooperation with Irish Data Protection Commissioner, where Facebook’s EU headquarters are based.
Source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/facebook-suspends-whatsapp-data-sharing-after-uk-probe--1170695