MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2021) The Personal Data Protection board of Turkey (KVKK) on Tuesday launched a probe into WhatsApp a day after the country's competition regulator initiated a similar investigation into the messaging application and Facebook over their new privacy policy, media reported.
Developers of the WhatsApp messenger have updated the user agreement, adding a provision on personal data transfer to Facebook. The updated agreement says that WhatsApp, being part of the Facebook corporation, will share necessary information about users to analyze their habits and tastes. In response, Turkish users, including high-ranking officials, are actively switching to alternative messengers. On Monday, Turkey's competition watchdog suspended the new WhatsApp user agreement in addition to launching its probe.
According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, the personal data protection watchdog discussed Whatsapp's new policy at a meeting on Tuesday and initiated a formal review of the messenger's basic principles, data processing conditions and data transfers abroad.
The KVKK said in a statement that it would reassess the issue on February 8, the newspaper continued.
WhatsApp insists that its update will not affect private messages and is only related to business transactions.
