Since the acquiring of WhatsApp by Facebook, it is passing through many controversies. The main issues reported worldwide are of security. Facebook changed the security policy of WhatsApp after owning it. Many countries protested against the data sharing policy of WhatsApp. In India, there have been many court cases against this policy. Now, WhatsApp gets fined over $3 million in Italy for sharing data. It is forcing the customers to share their personal data with its parent company Facebook.
Earlier, all the European Union countries have asked the WhatsApp to stop the data sharing with Facebook. The company replied to the countries that it was reviewing the decision and would discuss the matter with the officials. Although Facebook assured to respect the user data, yet it is violating its own policies. Facebook had already broken the laws in Germany where it shared the user’s data without their consent. The Germans banned this social media app to collect the personal data of its clients.
The Guardian has already mentioned the security issues found in WhatsApp in the first quarter of 2017. It said that due to these security issues, the other social media apps could read the encrypted messages. This also violates the personal data sharing policy.
Italy’s antitrust regulator has also confirmed the opportunity for WhatsApp users to deny the sharing of data with Facebook. Keeping in view this policy of WhatsApp, different countries are introducing various laws to protect the personal data of users. In China, they have banned the Facebook for not abiding the laws.
In spite of many Fines and penalties, the company has not changed its policy up till now. It is still sharing the personal data of consumers with its parent company.
