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Last week they were fined $270m by the EU for claiming they were anonymizing user data like phone numbers when they weren't.

baby 5y ago
that's news to me, had to find a source: https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/2/22653747/whatsapp-fine-amount-europe-gdpr-privacy https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/2/22653747/whatsapp-fine-amo... looks like WhatsApp is appealing, so not a case close. > noting that WhatsApp did not properly inform EU citizens how it handles their personal data, including how it shares that information with its parent company. I'm not sure I understand these kind of claims to begin with. WhatsApp is facebook, why would they have to warn users that the data is shared?
- thesausageking 5y ago
  They did correct their policy to no longer lie to users after they were fined. I'm not sure that counts as "doing really well in terms of security and privacy for its users".
  - baby 5y ago
    I think that's a bit disingenuous, who reads these policies anyway? And how much does this really matter compared to features like end-to-end encryption?
    - thesausageking 5y ago
      This wasn't a trivial technicality. They said users' phone numbers were being anonymized and they weren't. How they handle private data, especially if they lie about what they're doing, does really matter. End-to-end encryption doesn't mean anything if they secretly keep the a key able to decrypt it, which is basically what they were getting fined for.
      - baby 5y ago
        I'd argue it is because it's buried in some policy text that no user ends up reading anyway.
prawnsalad 5y ago
I can't remember the source so take this as you will, but WhatsApp are appealing such a large fine because the privacy policy was in the middle of being updated during a transition. The policy was correct after the fact and ever since.
- dannyw 5y ago
  If I renegade on a contract with my bank because I was moving house I would still be sued into bankruptcy. Multibillion dollar companies have the onus to keep their legal documents (terms of service, privacy policy) up to date.

baby 5y ago

that's news to me, had to find a source: https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/2/22653747/whatsapp-fine-amount-europe-gdpr-privacy https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/2/22653747/whatsapp-fine-amo... looks like WhatsApp is appealing, so not a case close. > noting that WhatsApp did not properly inform EU citizens how it handles their personal data, including how it shares that information with its parent company. I'm not sure I understand these kind of claims to begin with. WhatsApp is facebook, why would they have to warn users that the data is shared?

thesausageking 5y ago
They did correct their policy to no longer lie to users after they were fined. I'm not sure that counts as "doing really well in terms of security and privacy for its users".
- baby 5y ago
  I think that's a bit disingenuous, who reads these policies anyway? And how much does this really matter compared to features like end-to-end encryption?
  - thesausageking 5y ago
    This wasn't a trivial technicality. They said users' phone numbers were being anonymized and they weren't. How they handle private data, especially if they lie about what they're doing, does really matter. End-to-end encryption doesn't mean anything if they secretly keep the a key able to decrypt it, which is basically what they were getting fined for.
    - baby 5y ago
      I'd argue it is because it's buried in some policy text that no user ends up reading anyway.

prawnsalad 5y ago

I can't remember the source so take this as you will, but WhatsApp are appealing such a large fine because the privacy policy was in the middle of being updated during a transition. The policy was correct after the fact and ever since.

dannyw 5y ago
If I renegade on a contract with my bank because I was moving house I would still be sued into bankruptcy. Multibillion dollar companies have the onus to keep their legal documents (terms of service, privacy policy) up to date.