When Facebook acquired WhatsApp, a lot of questions were raised regarding the company’s plans to make the acquisition work for it. After all, prospects of generating direct revenues were thin. WhatsApp had already assured users that it would remain ad free and in a world where IM apps are a dime a dozen, Facebook didn’t want to risk WhatsApp’s dominance by asking users to pay for a service they had starting considering almost on par with a basic amenity.
That was when it struck upon the idea of data sharing. WhatsApp users started seeing an update that would have allowed the sharing of all their contacts data with Facebook. This rich trove of data from over 1 Billion users would have helped Facebook in a bunch of ways. However, the company’s data sharing plans were soon put on hold as regulators across the world raised concerns and termed its plans as a breach of privacy.
Things have been in a sort of a limbo since then. However, Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon, who is also the lead EU regulator on privacy issues for Facebook, has said that it is hoping to soon reach some sort of an arrangement with the social networking platform so as to allow it to use data it has obtained from WhatsApp.
Speaking on the topic, Dixon said:
I think we are in agreement with the parties – WhatsApp and Facebook – that the quality of the information provided to users could have been clearer, could have been more transparent and could have been expressed in simpler terms. We are working towards a solution on that.
In case you are wondering, Dixon’s say so is important because the company’s European headquarters are in Dublin. The decision is particularly important because it will have a significant bearing upon data sharing practices world wide. It will be interesting to see what kind of arrangement can satisfy both Facebook’s needs, as well as regulator’s privacy requirements.
