WhatsApp discovers 'targeted' surveillance attack against the system.
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Showing posts with label WhatsApp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WhatsApp. Show all posts
October 1, 2018
EU versus Facebook: Will Weber take a hammer to Facebook’s social media monopoly? – by Samuel Stolton
Manfred Weber, the head of the EPP group in the European Parliament and lead candidate for Jean-Claude Juncker’s job as the next European Commission president, threw down the gauntlet on Friday (28 September), suggesting that he may support a breakup of Facebook and Whatsapp.
“I consider it necessary to ask the monopoly question,” Weber told the German newspaper Spiegel. Weber announced his candidacy for the top EU job in early September and has also received backing from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The European Commission should consider whether, for example, after the acquisition of Whatsapp and Instagram, Facebook has a dominant position. In extreme cases, a breakup should also be conceivable,” he said.
Weber also noted that Facebook will continue to be under close scrutiny from the European Parliament, and called on the internet giant to be more transparent in its advertising activities.
The EU’s Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová has put pressure on Facebook to disclose further details of the massive security breach that impacted around fifty million users last week.
In a statement on Sunday (30 September), Jourová urged Facebook to comply fully with the body in charge of investigating the breach, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, and disclose whether EU users were affected by the breach and how their personal data was impacted.
At least 50mln #Facebook users were compromised in the huge security breach. I urge Facebook to fully cooperate with @DPCIreland. We need to know if EU users were affected and what had happened to their data. Here a reminder about the obligations of biz https://t.co/1bZ6IJdJ4B
Facebook said on Friday (28 September) that hackers had discovered a security flaw allowing them to capture data belonging to up to 50 million Facebook users.
According to the New York Times, Facebook’s VP for product management, Guy Rosen, has refused to rule out the possibility that the attack may have been coordinated by a nation-state.
Rosen has stated that the hackers were targeting people’s private information, including name, gender and location.
Due to the lack of disclosure given on the specifics of the hack thus far by Facebook, it currently remains unclear as to whether more sensitive information has been accessed.
October 26, 2017
EU Citizens Privacy Rights: EU privacy regulators increase pressure on WhatsApp over data sharing
European Union privacy regulators rapped WhatsApp on the knuckles for
not resolving their concerns over the messaging service's sharing of
user data with parent company Facebook, a year after they first issued a
warning.
The popular messaging service changed its privacy policy last year to start sharing users' phone numbers and other information with Facebook. That drew widespread regulatory scrutiny across Europe, and WhatsApp subsequently suspended the data sharing for EU users.
In a letter sent to WhatsApp on Tuesday and published on Wednesday, the group of EU data protection authorities - known as the Article 29 Working Party - said the company had still not resolved its concerns about getting user consent for the data sharing.
They noted that the information given users about the privacy policy update was "seriously deficient as a means to inform their consent."
"Whilst the WP29 (Article 29 Working Party) notes there is a balance to be struck between presenting the user with too much information and not enough, the initial screen made no mention at all of the key information users needed to make an informed choice, namely that clicking the agree button would result in their personal data being shared with the Facebook family of companies," the letter said.
The Irish data protection authority - which has jurisdiction over Facebook in the EU because the company's European headquarters are in Dublin - said in April that it hoped to reach a deal in the coming months on the data sharing with WhatsApp.
"Over the last year we have engaged with data protection authorities to explain how our 2016 terms and privacy policy update apply to people who use WhatsApp in Europe. We remain committed to respecting applicable law and will continue to work collaboratively with officials in Europe to address their questions," a WhatsApp spokesman said.
The WP29 also said users' consent was not freely given as WhatsApp effectively adopted a "take it or leave it approach in which users either signal their 'consent' to the sharing of data or they are unable to avail themselves of WhatsApp's messaging service."
A new EU data protection law will come into force in May which will give regulators the power to fine companies up to 4 percent of their global turnover, a huge increase compared with the present levels.
Read more: EU privacy regulators increase pressure on WhatsApp over data sharing
The popular messaging service changed its privacy policy last year to start sharing users' phone numbers and other information with Facebook. That drew widespread regulatory scrutiny across Europe, and WhatsApp subsequently suspended the data sharing for EU users.
In a letter sent to WhatsApp on Tuesday and published on Wednesday, the group of EU data protection authorities - known as the Article 29 Working Party - said the company had still not resolved its concerns about getting user consent for the data sharing.
They noted that the information given users about the privacy policy update was "seriously deficient as a means to inform their consent."
"Whilst the WP29 (Article 29 Working Party) notes there is a balance to be struck between presenting the user with too much information and not enough, the initial screen made no mention at all of the key information users needed to make an informed choice, namely that clicking the agree button would result in their personal data being shared with the Facebook family of companies," the letter said.
The Irish data protection authority - which has jurisdiction over Facebook in the EU because the company's European headquarters are in Dublin - said in April that it hoped to reach a deal in the coming months on the data sharing with WhatsApp.
"Over the last year we have engaged with data protection authorities to explain how our 2016 terms and privacy policy update apply to people who use WhatsApp in Europe. We remain committed to respecting applicable law and will continue to work collaboratively with officials in Europe to address their questions," a WhatsApp spokesman said.
The WP29 also said users' consent was not freely given as WhatsApp effectively adopted a "take it or leave it approach in which users either signal their 'consent' to the sharing of data or they are unable to avail themselves of WhatsApp's messaging service."
A new EU data protection law will come into force in May which will give regulators the power to fine companies up to 4 percent of their global turnover, a huge increase compared with the present levels.
Read more: EU privacy regulators increase pressure on WhatsApp over data sharing
August 21, 2015
Middle East: Migrant Exodus: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees - by Serene Assir
“Our phones and power banks are more important for our journey than
anything, even more important than food,” said Wael, a 32-year-old from
the devastated Syrian city Homs who reached the Greek resort island of
Kos on Thursday morning.
Read more: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees | The Times of Israel
Refugees are using Facebook groups with tens
of thousands of members to share photographs and experiences, find
smugglers’ phone numbers, map their route from Turkey to Greece and
onward to northern Europe, and to calculate expenses.
They use WhatsApp to help the coast guard
pinpoint their location once their boats have reached Greek waters, and
Viber to let their families know they have landed safely.
“We couldn’t take anything with us on the
boat, we were all so crammed. But these phones are our most precious
belongings,” said Wael, who fled Syria with his bright green-eyed wife
and 12 relatives, including three children.
They are among more than 135,000 refugees and
migrants who have arrived in Greece this year, amid Europe’s biggest
migration crisis since World War II.
“I wrapped my phone up in a resealable plastic bag to protect it from the water,” said the olive-skinned man.
In Kos, Syrians can be seen taking photographs
of each other on the beach using their smartphones, and ordering coffee
at local cafes where they can connect to Internet.
Note EU-Digest: As millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Libya and Sudan are swarming into Turkey and the EU it is amazing to see that our "good friends" on the other side of the Atlantic. who's Middle East policies created all this mess, remain deadly silent when it comes to also offering some of these refugees some assistance or a new future in the US.
Note EU-Digest: As millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Libya and Sudan are swarming into Turkey and the EU it is amazing to see that our "good friends" on the other side of the Atlantic. who's Middle East policies created all this mess, remain deadly silent when it comes to also offering some of these refugees some assistance or a new future in the US.
Read more: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees | The Times of Israel
April 28, 2015
EU telecoms reform to address competition from WhatsApp, Skype - by Julia Fioretti
The European
Commission will take into account increased competition from cable
operators and alternative services such as WhatsApp (FB.O) when it overhauls Europe's telecoms rules next year, a move that will be cheered by the telecoms industry.
A draft seen by Reuters of the Commission's strategy for creating a digital single market says telecom operators compete with "over-the-top" services "without being subject to the same regulatory regime".
"It is necessary to design a fair and future-proof regulatory environment for all services," the document says.
The bloc's telecom firms such as Orange (ORAN.PA) and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) have long called for lighter-touch regulation, after years of declining revenues and competition from new entrants, to enable them to invest in network upgrades.
Telecom companies point to increased competition from services such as Skype (owned by Microsoft (MSFT.O)) and online messaging as a reason for easing the regulatory burden.
Considering Skype, or any other "voice-over-IP" application, as a substitute for traditional phone services could lead to those companies being subject to the same obligations as traditional operators, such as offering emergency calls.
The new European executive, which took office in November, has made investment in superfast broadband a priority. But incumbent telecom operators say the current set of rules does not provide incentives to invest in their networks. The Commission will unveil its proposals for an overhaul of the telecoms framework in 2016, the document states. Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip is expected to unveil his digital single market strategy on May 6.
Read more: EU telecoms reform to address competition from WhatsApp, Skype | Reuters
A draft seen by Reuters of the Commission's strategy for creating a digital single market says telecom operators compete with "over-the-top" services "without being subject to the same regulatory regime".
"It is necessary to design a fair and future-proof regulatory environment for all services," the document says.
The bloc's telecom firms such as Orange (ORAN.PA) and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) have long called for lighter-touch regulation, after years of declining revenues and competition from new entrants, to enable them to invest in network upgrades.
Telecom companies point to increased competition from services such as Skype (owned by Microsoft (MSFT.O)) and online messaging as a reason for easing the regulatory burden.
Considering Skype, or any other "voice-over-IP" application, as a substitute for traditional phone services could lead to those companies being subject to the same obligations as traditional operators, such as offering emergency calls.
The new European executive, which took office in November, has made investment in superfast broadband a priority. But incumbent telecom operators say the current set of rules does not provide incentives to invest in their networks. The Commission will unveil its proposals for an overhaul of the telecoms framework in 2016, the document states. Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip is expected to unveil his digital single market strategy on May 6.
Read more: EU telecoms reform to address competition from WhatsApp, Skype | Reuters
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