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WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

reuters.com

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Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#51

Post by seszett »

mikeokner wrote: post #15
teekert wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument is that WA always told us that they wouldn't share our data. This was a reason people signed up, you can't just "Oops we did it anyway" on so many people. At least not on People who have a government with their best interest in mind.

Is there legal precedent for "sharing" when the only entity you're providing the data to is your owner? Presumably if I bought WhatsApp, I would legally be allowed to query some database for someone's phone number if I so chose because I now own the database.

> I now own the database.

You might own the database, but you will never own the personal data that is stored in it. And in France (and in the near future the whole EU with GDPR) this personal data has a specific set of allowed uses (explicit or implicit when the user provided the data) attached to it, that you cannot change without asking the owner of the data (the user).

So you own the database, but you cannot use the personal data inside for purposes that were not allowed by the user when they provided it.

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#52

Post by mancerayder »

teekert wrote: post #13
soziawa wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well with WhatsApp being so popular in Europe it is almost impossible to uninstall it.

I'm taking baby steps towards Signal. I think 10% now of my regular "apping" is on Signal. There is still some on Telegram as well.

I love Signal but the reason why WhatsApp is so appealing is that there's a desktop client.

I hate having to rely on my phone for texting people.

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#53

Post by laurent123456 »

rihegher wrote: post #47
abritinthebay wrote: post #39

The French system for protecting personal information should be a model for the rest of the world imo. (As an Englishman it pains me to say that) A company can never really “own” your data there. It merely can be lent it for very specific purposes. Using it outside of those purposes is punishable by law and that permission can be revoked. It’s very pro-citizen.

Well here this is the CNIL threatening to fine Facebook. The CNIL does not have much power though, and the worst that may happens for Facebook will be to be fine a few thousands euros.

Since 2004 they can fine up to 3 000 000 € [0]. Still not much for Facebook but better than a few thousands. More importantly, assuming the CNIL has a case, I assume Facebook has an obligation to comply (I guess they can't just pay the fine and keep doing whatever they were doing).

[0] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFT...

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#54

Post by xwvvvvwx »

mancerayder wrote: post #52
teekert wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm taking baby steps towards Signal. I think 10% now of my regular "apping" is on Signal. There is still some on Telegram as well.

I love Signal but the reason why WhatsApp is so appealing is that there's a desktop client. I hate having to rely on my phone for texting people.

Signal has a desktop client (mac / win / linux): https://signal.org/download/

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#55

Post by hanbura »

hartator wrote: post #25
kuschku wrote: post #3

» The CNIL said it had repeatedly asked WhatsApp to provide a sample of French users’ data transferred to Facebook but the company had explained it could not do so as it is located in the United States and “it considers that it is only subject to the legislation of this country.” « That's a very interesting quote from Facebook, and explains why the GDPR has a special section explaining that it also applies to foreign…

I am glad as an US company we don't have to comply to the dumb EU cookie laws. Yeah, we know every websites in the world uses cookies. Don't need a modal everywhere.

The cookie law makes perfect sense: most uses of cookies don't require any notification, only "invisible" tracking cookies need that.

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#56

Post by mkmk »

mancerayder wrote: post #52
teekert wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm taking baby steps towards Signal. I think 10% now of my regular "apping" is on Signal. There is still some on Telegram as well.

I love Signal but the reason why WhatsApp is so appealing is that there's a desktop client. I hate having to rely on my phone for texting people.

https://signal.org/blog/standalone-signal-desktop/ :-)

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#58

Post by coliveira »

abritinthebay wrote: post #39

The French system for protecting personal information should be a model for the rest of the world imo. (As an Englishman it pains me to say that) A company can never really “own” your data there. It merely can be lent it for very specific purposes. Using it outside of those purposes is punishable by law and that permission can be revoked. It’s very pro-citizen.

This should be the law everywhere. The US, on the other hand, believes it is OK to provide ALL your personal information to big companies, see the debacle of Equifax that exposed data from most Americans to hackers throughout the world.

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#59

Post by teekert »

mancerayder wrote: post #52
teekert wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm taking baby steps towards Signal. I think 10% now of my regular "apping" is on Signal. There is still some on Telegram as well.

I love Signal but the reason why WhatsApp is so appealing is that there's a desktop client. I hate having to rely on my phone for texting people.

Well... read the reactions... It a cross platform electron app, works really well. I agree, it is a must have imo as well.

Re: WhatsApp told to stop sharing user data with Facebook by French authorities

#60

Post by eicnix »

mikeokner wrote: post #15
teekert wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument is that WA always told us that they wouldn't share our data. This was a reason people signed up, you can't just "Oops we did it anyway" on so many people. At least not on People who have a government with their best interest in mind.

Is there legal precedent for "sharing" when the only entity you're providing the data to is your owner? Presumably if I bought WhatsApp, I would legally be allowed to query some database for someone's phone number if I so chose because I now own the database.

In the EU you would need the explicit permission of the user to share their data with the new parent company.

Which isn't a huge issue since most users will accept any data privacy declaration.

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