A German privacy watchdog has banned Facebook from gathering data on users of its WhatsApp chat app, citing an update to its privacy policy that it said breaches stringent European data protection rules. Hamburg’s data protection commissioner Johannes Caspar said he issued an emergency three-month order prohibiting the social network from processing WhatsApp personal data for its own purposes. WhatsApp denied the update is connected with any expansion of data sharing with Facebook, pointing out it is related only to messages between businesses and customers. He said he would refer the case to the European Data Protection Board to get a European Union-wide decision. Facebook’s German headquarters is based in Hamburg, giving Mr Caspar jurisdiction at the national level when it comes to enforcing the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation for the company.

Source: Irish Independent May 11, 2021 15:18 UTC