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EU Launches Investigation Into Facebook Acquisition of WhatsApp

Antitrust officials in the European Union have begun an investigation into Facebook's acquisition of the messaging service WhatsApp. WhatsApp gained popularity based on its pro-privacy approach to user data. Following the announcement of Facebook's plan to acquire the company, EPIC filed two complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, urging the FTC to block the sale unless adequate privacy safeguards for WhatsApp users were established. The Commission then notified Facebook and WhatsApp that they must honor their privacy commitments to users but questions remain about future business practices. Now European antitrust regulators have served Facebook with a questionnaire of more than 70 pages to determine whether the merger violates European antitrust laws. For more information, see EPIC: In re WhatsApp, and EPIC: FTC.

September 2, 2014| Share:

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