Hamburg’s Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar ruled that Facebook neither has obtained an effective approval from the WhatsApp users, nor does a legal basis for the data reception exist.
Caspar also recalled that in the wake of Facebook’s 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp it had promised that they would not share user data.
Caspar ordered Facebook to delete any data already received from WhatsApp in Germany, saying that he was acting to protect the privacy of Germany’s 35 million WhatsApp users and that of people saved in each user’s address books, whose details might also be forwarded under the data-sharing arrangement.
The European Commission recently recommended tighter privacy and security requirements for services including WhatsApp and Microsoft-owned video calling service Skype, saying they should be regulated more like traditional telecoms.
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