Stephanie Bodoni for Bloomberg:
“Up to now there has been no supervisory review of the actual processing operations between WhatsApp and Facebook that we are aware of,” Caspar said. “There is reason to believe that the provisions that will enable and expand the sharing of data between WhatsApp and Facebook will be unlawfully enforced due to the lack of voluntary and informed consent.”
He said the formal case was opened “to prevent unlawful mass data sharing, if necessary, and to put an end to unlawful consent pressure on millions of people.”
What will prevent Facebook from legally skirting issues despite massive scrutiny by multiple regulators across the world? These are serious issues around coercive pressures and the unwillingness of people to shift to better options in the market. These are also related to the “privacy fatigue” and general ignorance. Most users have rhetorical issues around data being siphoned off by the big tech as it is unlikely to harm them.
Well, it will eventually lead to moronisation of the society. Users have become excessively dependent on big tech (all under the ambit of “friends and family”) that they have willingly suspended their reason and are refusing to understand the harms; especially due to polarisation of principles. The chat applications will be used for health data too- and their use has become a common place for everyone. The privacy implications are onerous.
RadOncNotes 