On May 11, 2017, the Italian Antitrust Authority (Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato “ICA”) found that WhatsApp infringed the Italian Consumer Code.
In particular, according to the ICA, WhatsApp forced the users of its service “to accept in full the new Terms of Use, and specifically the provision to share their personal data with Facebook, by inducing them to believe that without granting such consent they would not have been able to use the service anymore.”
The company may appeal the measure to the administrative court (Tar del Lazio) within 60 days or to the President of the Italian Republic within 120 days. See here for more information.
The Italian Data Protection Authority also opened an investigation in September 2016 to inquire into WhatsApp’s privacy policy and the transfer of users’ accounts information to Facebook. See here for more information.
For more information on the Italian Data Protection rights, contact Francesca Giannoni-Crystal and Federica Romanelli.
Follow us on& Like us on