UK ordered WhatsApp not to share users’ personal data with Facebook

WhatsApp has signed an agreement with the Information Commissioner’s Office of United Kingdom not to share the personal data of Britain’s users with Facebook until the data protection concerns are been addressed.

WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, had signed an “undertaking” wherein the WhatsApp has given a public commitment that the company won’t share its users’ personal data with its parent company Facebook until they can do so in compliance with the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force in May.

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“WhatsApp has assured us that no personal data of the United Kingdom user’s has ever been shared with Facebook. Everyone have right to have their personal data kept safe, and only be used in ways that are properly explained to them. This deal is a requirement of the Data Protection Act,” Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner said in a statement on Thursday.

An investigation, initiated by ICO in August 2016, into whether WhatsApp could legally share the personal data of the WhatsApp users to Facebook has been completed.

WhatsApp has not identified a lawful basis of processing for any such sharing of personal data, the investigation reports said.

The European Union (EU) has announced to introduce the GDPR in upcoming May to harmonize data privacy law. Germany has also ordered Facebook to stop collecting user’s personal data from its messaging app WhatsApp.