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WhatsApp faces fresh trouble in Germany for its new privacy policy
WhatsApp is facing fresh trouble in Germany as the Data Protection Regulator has ordered a three-month freeze on data collection by Facebook.
WhatsApp's new privacy policy has initiated plenty of conversations around the world, both among consumers and among regulators. Even as WhatsApp resolved to not take immediate coercive action against users who do not accept the new policy, and instead present them with a gradual nag-screen and account limitations, data protection regulators are swinging into action on the new policy. Now, Germany's lead data protection regulator has temporarily banned the social network from processing personal data from WhatsApp.
Facebook to shift UK to US user agreement after Brexit, with more countries to follow
Facebook is to move all its customers outside the EU to be covered by a user agreement governed from its California base, rather than Ireland
Facebook has announced that its United Kingdom customers will be migrated to a US user agreement in 2021. The move is a response to the end of the Brexit transition period on 31st December, after which time the country will no longer be covered by EU laws. Until recently, customers in Blighty were covered by agreements with Facebook’s European headquarters in the Republic of Ireland, in order to comply with European Union data protection laws, including GDPR. When customers are migrated back to Facebook’s California base, they will no longer have the same protections, although the company will have to meet the equivalent UK laws, which are expected to mimic GDPR, in the short to medium term.
Twitter fined 450,000 Euros by Irish regulator for GDPR fail
Ireland's data regulator has handed down a 450,000 Euro fine on behalf of the European Union, for a 2018 data breach of Twitter's Android app
Twitter has been clobbered with a fine of €450,000 (~$546,300) after Irish courts found it had breached Europe’s strong data protection laws, known as GDPR. The fine was brought by Ireland’s data regulator, making it the first scalp for US big tech under the legislation.