Turkey Probes Facebook's Move to Collect WhatsApp User Data

The Turkish Competition Board said on Monday it launched an investigation into WhatsApp and its owner Facebook after the messaging app asked users to agree to let Facebook collect user data including phone numbers and locations.

In a written statement, the Competition Board said it ruled the data-collection requirement should be suspended until the probe is complete.

“The Competition Board has opened an investigation into Facebook and WhatsApp and suspended the requirement to share Whatsapp data,” it said.

WhatsApp updated its terms of service last Wednesday, allowing Facebook and its subsidiaries to collect user data. But the instant messaging platform says that nothing will change when it comes to consumer chats, i.e., for WhatsApp accounts not used for business purposes. The deadline for agreeing to the new terms is February 8.

Rival messaging apps Signal and Telegram have since seen a sudden increase in demand.The movement away from WhatsApp, which also reflects the growing discontent with big tech, is not slowing down, and the Signal app has in fact become the top messaging app in many countries over the weekend.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

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