Facebook Fined $122 Million for Misleading Europe on Privacy Risks of WhatsApp Merger
The EU has fined Facebook $122 million for misleading the European Commission during the investigation of the Facebook-WhatsApp Merger. Following Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp, WhatsApp transferred users' personal data to Facebook and violated the company's privacy promises. Facebook had downplayed the risks of the merger, saying that WhatsApp users' personal data could not be linked with their Facebook accounts. "U.S. antitrust law has failed to keep up with the digital economy and the emergence of monopoly services," EPIC president Marc Rotenberg told the New York Times. "There is far too much 'lock in' with a dominant provider, and far too much consolidation of personal data." The head of BEUC, the European consumer association, said "It is very disappointing that the Commission decided not to revise its original decision on the Facebook merger with WhatsApp." EPIC recently urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to consider the role of consumer privacy and data protection in merger reviews and highlighted the FTC's failure to block the Facebook-WhatsApp merger.
May 18, 2017| Share:
