Facebook Faces Charges for 'Misleading' Information

Cashmanager | 7 years ago

The European Commission has filed charges against Facebook which could see them face a US multimillion-dollar fine. The charges misleading European Union merger watchdogs when it won the approval to buy the WhatsApp messaging for US $19 billion in 2014.

In a statement released Tuesday, the EU’s antitrust authority said that there is reason to believe Facebook supplied ‘incorrect or misleading information’ on linking data with WhatsApp.

The concern is over Facebook matching its users accounts with WhatsApp user accounts, a feature that Facebook said was not possible back in 2014.This could allow a link between WhatsApp phone numbers and Facebook users to link more profiles or target relevant advertising. The suspicions arose in August in the new service and privacy update

Facebook could face fines of up to 1 percent of its turnover if those suspicions are confirmed but will not affect the approval of the merger.

In a statement released by Facebook, they have expressed confidence that ‘a full review of the facts will confirm Facebook has acted in good faith.’

Facebook has been given a deadline of 31 January to respond to the charges.