shutterstock.com/MichaelJayBerlin

shutterstock.com/MichaelJayBerlin

Hamburg Data Protection Officer Johannes Casper has failed in his attempt to ban the transfer of information between WhatsApp and Facebook at the European level. The European Data Protection Board found that there was insufficient knowledge about the processing of user information between the chat service and the parent company to make such a decision.

At the same time, the committee believes that the transfer of data between WhatsApp and other Facebook companies may have already violated the rules.

Therefore, the Irish Data Protection Authority, which is responsible for Facebook in Europe, was asked to prioritize the case. The goal is to determine if Facebook has processed WhatsApp data and whether it has a legal basis under the European General Data Protection Regulation GDPR.

New Terms of Use as a Trigger

Casper’s move was triggered by controversy surrounding WhatsApp’s new terms of use, which were introduced in May. Earlier, a Hamburg data protection officer who left office issued a precautionary order banning Facebook from processing WhatsApp data from German users.

Among other things, Casper warned that the new WhatsApp rules would make it possible to use data to link products from Facebook companies. WhatsApp denies that Facebook has access to more data from the chat service.

Casper’s order is valid for three months because the Irish Data Protection Authority is responsible for Facebook’s in Europe. At the same time, he wanted to gain an approach at the European level. Deputy Hamburg Data Protection Officer Ulrich Conn called the committee’s decision disappointing. It was a success that prompted the Irish Data Protection Authority to investigate. “However, this non-binding measure does not do justice to the importance of the subject.”