German regulator bans Facebook from processing WhatsApp user data

BERLIN : Germany’s lead data protection regulator for Facebook is banning the social network from processing personal data from WhatsApp users because it views the messaging app’s new terms of use as illegal, it said on Tuesday.

The decision follows emergency proceedings opened by the regulator in the city-state of Hamburg last month after WhatsApp required users to consent to new terms or stop using the service.

“This order seeks to secure the rights and freedoms of the many millions of users who give their consent to the terms of use throughout Germany,” Hamburg’s data protection officer Johannes Caspar said.