Instagram could be one of the most difficult challenges when it comes to encryption. On a unified platform, a message sent from WhatsApp to Facebook Messenger would require both WhatsApp and Messenger to hold the decryption key. Chief among them is how cross-platform, end-to-end encryption will work. Stitching together three very different technical platforms into a single system also raises a number of technical questions. Now, as it builds a platform to integrate Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook will likely face further questions about how user data is shared across its services. WhatsApp signed an undertaking saying no sharing would take place in the UK until it could legally do so under GDPR.
In March 2018, the UK’s Information Commissioner said the data sharing would be unlawful. WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton later admitted he was “coached” to tell regulators it would be hard to merge the two systems. In 2017, the EU slapped Facebook with a €110m fine for not being transparent about how it linked Facebook and WhatsApp data.Īt the time of the merger, Facebook told the EU there was no easy way to link this information while EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the firm knew all-too-well it was possible.
Users of Messenger and Facebook don’t have to share their phone numbers with the company, while WhatsApp needs a phone number to work. It added there would still be plenty of competition for consumers if WhatsApp and Messenger were both owned by the same company.ĮU regulators returned to the merger in 2016 when Facebook attempted to link phone numbers from WhatsApp to Facebook accounts.
Despite Zuckerberg’s insistence that the integration be made a priority at Facebook, it remains to be seen how the company will get the move past regulators who have previously looked upon its WhatsApp data-sharing arrangements with concern.Īt the time of its 2014 ruling on the $19 billion deal, the Commission said Facebook could complete the takeover as “Messenger and WhatsApp are not close competitors”.
0 kommentar(er)
