WhatsApp in line for fine as data watchdogs resolve dispute

WhatsApp said in an Irish regulatory filing in November it set aside €77.5mil (RM387.68mil) to pay potential fines from at least two probes by Ireland’s data-protection watchdog. — AFP Relaxnews

Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp is facing its first fine under the European Union’s strict data protection rules, after the bloc’s privacy watchdogs resolved a dispute over a draft decision by the lead EU data regulator.

The European Data Protection Board, a panel of EU data authorities, cleared the way for the Irish Data Protection Commission to take a final decision in a probe into WhatsApp’s data-sharing transparency in a decision on Wednesday. An initial draft had stumbled over several objections by EU counterparts, including “the appropriateness of the envisaged corrective measures”.