Germany Drags WhatsApp to Court for sharing user data without consent

Whatsapp logo

WhatsApp which is being owned by Facebook has been sued in Germany due to collection and "basic metrics."

sharing user data with the social network (Facebook). This action taken was against them is as a result of WhatsApp's August 2016 decision to start linking users' phone numbers with Facebook systems and tracking

Another big issue associated with this Whatsapp decision is that the company also sends the phone numbers of users' contacts to Facebook, even if they don’t exist as WhatsApp users. Besides, WhatsApp users who closed their Facebook's programme of using user data to target ads and suggest friends are still unable to stop sharing data entirely.

A part of the government, Federation of German Consumer Organizations is now requesting for an injunction to stop data sharing and make Facebook delete all data from German WhatsApp users, accusing them of abusing users' trust.

Recall in September 2016, German government ordered Facebook to stop collecting and storing WhatsApp its citizens’ user data. Around December 2016, the European Commission was seen accusing the social network of giving "incorrect or misleading information."

WhatsApp insists that its privacy policy and terms are compliant with established laws and EU regulatory guidelines.