Home
Apps
Apps News
Facebook’s Move to Collect WhatsApp User Data Under Investigation in Turkey

Facebook’s Move to Collect WhatsApp User Data Under Investigation in Turkey

The deadline for agreeing to the new WhatsApp terms is February 8.

By Reuters | Updated: 11 January 2021 17:58 IST

Facebook’s Move to Collect WhatsApp User Data Under Investigation in Turkey

Turkey's government has targeted social media companies with new restrictions since it passed law in July

Click Here to Add Gadgets360 As A Trusted Source

Highlights

The deadline for agreeing to the new terms is February 8
Signal and Telegram have since seen a sudden increase in demand
Critics say the law stifles dissent from Turks

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.

Shifting to Telegram? Here Are 5 Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

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.

What will be the most exciting tech launch of 2021? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.