The company started work to link the messaging functions of the three apps, and regulators are not happy.
Background: Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014 faced the European Commission’s regulatory scrutiny. However, the EC ended up authorising the merger having no competition concerns. Later, some regulators (e.g. German data protection authorities) required Facebook to ensure no data sharing occurred between the two applications.
What’s new? Facebook has now disclosed it has started work to integrate the messaging services of the three apps. These will remain standalone applications, but users of each will be able to send messages to the other two. This means a Facebook user could send a message to someone who only has a WhatsApp account, for example.
What can we expect? It is understood the project is still at early stages, and should complete by the end of 2019 or early 2020. However, the Irish Data Protection Commission has already promised it will scrutinise the integration and ensure it happens in compatibility with GDPR. Competition issues could also arise, seeing as the Chief Economist of the EC’s DG Competition, Tommaso Valletti, was quick in criticising the move. Watch this space.
