WhatsApp privacy policy questioned by regulators

NOT so fast. Facebook’s $19 billion purchase of the messaging app could be stalled until privacy concerns are answered.

Messaging app WhatsApp was snapped up by Facebook for US$19 billion now privacy regulator

PRIVACY advocates have asked regulators to halt Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of messaging service WhatsApp until there is a clearer understanding of how the company intends to use the personal data of WhatsApp’s 450 million users.

MORE: HOW OTHER COMPANIES CAN LEARN FROM WHATSAPP

WhatsApp, a service that allows mobile-phone users to send each other messages, has had a longstanding commitment to not collect user data for advertising purposes.

But there’s no guarantee that that commitment will continue once the service becomes part of Facebook, according to the filing to the Federal Trade Commission by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.