Since the beginning of the year (even a little earlier) the question of personal data within the Facebook group has been debated around the world. As WhatsApp was preparing to pass an update to centralize the personal data of its users and make them accessible to the Facebook parent company, a popular retribution has finally made the number 1 instant messaging app back in the world.
However, this update has not been abandoned and Facebook wants the data from WhatsApp, which represents a real gold mine when it comes to targeted advertising, Facebook’s only means of funding today. It is also scheduled to come into effect on May 15.
While on the other side of the chessboard Apple has just set up its App Tracking Transparency, states are also beginning to take a stand against the blue social network. This is the case in Germany, which in a recent court decision issued by the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information formally prohibits Facebook from using the personal data of Germans on WhatsApp. . This exceptional injunction will last three months, while Germany takes new measures concerning the protection of the personal data of its fellow citizens.
A union at European level necessary?
According to the German commissioner at the origin of this injunction, Johannes Caspar, this urgent act must be followed by national legislation, even European. Because Germany knows very well that alone, it will be able to fight against Facebook too little. A European directive on access to the protection of personal data, which thus included the illegal Facebook update, would be the best solution to respond to Mark Zuckerberg’s social network.
For its part, Facebook announced that it was going to appeal this court decision and that while awaiting a new verdict, it would override the injunction as of May 15. A very risky bet for WhatsApp which is present in the phone of three out of four Germans.
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Par : Facebook, Inc.
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