Facebook 'pauses' WhatsApp data sharing after ICO intervention

Facebook has agreed to “pause” its plan to use data from UK users of messaging service WhatsApp for advertising and product improvement purposes across the rest of its business, after an intervention from the UK information commissioner.

Elizabeth Denham wrote to Facebook in September to express her concerns over a new plan to share more data between the social network and Whatsapp. When it announced its plans back in August, Whatsapp said it wanted to explore ways for users to “communicate with businesses that matter to you too, while still giving you an experience without third-party banner ads and spam”. The plans involved using the phone number associated with a WhatsApp account to aid Facebook in targeting adverts on the user’s main Facebook profile. But, Denham wrote, she had concerns that consumers weren’t being properly protected, and that “it’s fair to say the enquiries my team have made haven’t changed that view.