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WhatsApp on a smartphone: which data goes where is incomprehensible, even for data protection experts
Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
The Hamburg data protection officer Johannes Caspar, who has since left office, failed in an attempt to ban the exchange of information between WhatsApp and the parent company Facebook at European level.
Although the Irish data protection authority is actually responsible for Facebook, Caspar issued an order against the company in the spring.
The European Data Protection Committee has now stopped the Hamburg authority going it alone.
The panel found that it did not know enough about the processing of user information between the chat service and the parent company to make such a decision.
Doubts about the procedure and Facebook
Facebook is not off the hook with this: The committee said today that it is "very likely" that rules are already being violated by data exchange between WhatsApp and other Facebook companies.
Therefore, the Irish data protection authority responsible for Facebook in Europe was asked to examine the case with priority.
The aim is to clarify whether Facebook WhatsApp data is processed and whether there is a legal basis for this in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The dispute concerned the new WhatsApp terms of use introduced in May.
Shortly before, Caspar had issued a precautionary order prohibiting Facebook from processing WhatsApp data from German users.
Among other things, Caspar warned that the new WhatsApp rules would make it possible to use data to connect to products from Facebook companies.
WhatsApp denies that Facebook has access to more data from the chat service.
The deputy Hamburg data protection officer Ulrich Kühn called the decision of the committee disappointing.
It was a success that the Irish data protection authority was urged to investigate, "but this non-binding measure does not do justice to the importance of the issue."
After the new terms of use caused outrage around the world, WhatsApp was backtracked further and further.
Most recently, the company had stated that users who reject the changes can continue to use the chat without restrictions.
Caspar has now also found supporters in his crackdown on Facebook.
For example, consumer advocates have lodged a complaint against Facebook because the group wanted to get users to agree to the new terms and conditions with constantly new requests.
At the end of June, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Ulrich Kelber asked the Federal Government to discontinue its official presence on the social network.
The Irish Data Protection Authority has been repeatedly accused of inaction by other supervisory authorities.
tmk / dpa