alexsl/iStock(NEW YORK) — Facebook currently faces 10 investigations into whether the company — including its WhatsApp and Instagram platforms — violated new European privacy laws, which are stricter than their U.S. counterparts. But it’s not the only one.
Facebook, Twitter, Apple and LinkedIn are all being probed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, for violating the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which was implemented in May 2018, the agency revealed in a report released on Thursday.
Ireland’s DPC is the lead regulator for the European Union because so many of the multinational tech giants have their European headquarters there.
In September, Facebook announced a problem in its “View As” feature that led to an attack on almost 30 million accounts. In December the company announced a software bug that exposed the photos of nearly seven million users to third-party apps without user consent.
Three of the potential GDPR violations are related to the September breach, which the company self-reported to the DPC, according to the report. Regulators are examining whether Facebook correctly handled notifying European authorities of the breach and user data.
Two probes are focused on WhatsApp, which is often considered the most secure of the platforms because of its end-to-end encryption. One is related to how it handles user privacy and how it shares information with Facebook outside of the app.
In September, Facebook announced a problem in its “View As” feature that led to an attack on almost 30 million accounts. In December the company announced a software bug that exposed the photos of nearly seven million users to third-party apps without user consent.
Three of the potential GDPR violations are related to the September breach, which the company self-reported to the DPC, according to the report. Regulators are examining whether Facebook correctly handled notifying European authorities of the breach and user data.
Two probes are focused on WhatsApp, which is often considered the most secure of the platforms because of its end-to-end encryption. One is related to how it handles user privacy and how it shares information with Facebook outside of the app.
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