Facebook’s WhatsApp on Monday confronted a barrage of complaints by the European Consumer Organisation and others over a privateness coverage replace, which has prompted a worldwide outcry and led some customers to modify to rival apps Telegram and Signal.

WhatsApp in January launched a privateness coverage which permits it to share some knowledge with Facebook and different group companies.

It stated the adjustments allow customers to message with companies and wouldn’t have an effect on private conversations.

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and eight of its members criticised the adjustments and filed complaints with the European Commission and the European community of client authorities, saying WhatsApp was unfairly pressuring customers to simply accept its new insurance policies.

“The content of these notifications, their nature, timing and recurrence put an undue pressure on users and impair their freedom of choice. As such, they are a breach of the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices,” the teams stated in a joint assertion.

“WhatsApp has failed to explain in plain and intelligible language the nature of the changes… This ambiguity amounts to a breach of EU consumer law which obliges companies to use clear and transparent contract terms and commercial communications,” they stated.

The teams urged the European community of client authorities and EU knowledge safety authorities to work collectively to deal with these privateness and client rights issues.

© Thomson Reuters 2021