WhatsApp is taking steps after being fined a record 225 million euro ($267 million) by Ireland’s data privacy watchdog in September for violating stringent European Union data protection rules on transparency over the sharing of people’s data with other Facebook companies.
After Irish regulators slapped WhatsApp with a record fine for violating strict EU data privacy rules, WhatsApp is adding more details to its privacy policy and flagging that information for European users. WhatsApp’s privacy policy will be revised from Monday in order to provide more information on the data it collects and how it is used. WhatsApp also stated that it will go into greater detail about how it protects data shared across borders for its worldwide service, and the legal basis for data processing.
Facebook owns WhatsApp, which has now been rebranded as Meta Platforms. Users in Europe will notice a banner notification at the top of their chat list that will direct them to the updated information as a result of the update.
WhatsApp is taking steps after being fined a record 225 million euro ($267 million) by Ireland’s data privacy watchdog in September for violating stringent European Union data protection rules on transparency over the sharing of people’s data with other Facebook companies.
While WhatsApp expressed dissatisfaction with the judgement, it stated that it will comply by amending its policy while appealing. The update has no impact on how data is handled, and users will not be required to agree to anything new or take any other action due to this update.
Since the regional headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland’s Data Privacy Commission is the lead privacy regulator for WhatsApp under European Union rules.