Facebook will have to give explanations to Europe about some of the details of the purchase of WhatsApp.
Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Imagesdo you Remember that Facebook said that never share your phone number of WhatsApp with the own social network? And… do you remember who finally did it? Well, the European Union also learned of that little detail, and that is why it has sent a formal complaint to the company that could become a huge fine for 2017.
What the EU wants to know is if Facebook cheated during its acquisition of the messaging service in 2014. At the time of the negotiations, the social network told the European Commission that it would be unable to pair your WhatsApp data — including your phone number — with your profile, although we all remember that in August the messaging app was updated and you were forced to link that account with the user ID of Facebook.
at the moment this linkage has not taken effect on the users of WhatsApp in Europe, however the European Commission alleges that Facebook has always had the technical capacity to do this, so either intentionally or negligently provided misleading information at the time of the merger.
This demand of the EU marks the start of a new conflict between companies of the technology sector of the U.S. and the region. In the recent history are the problems of Apple for allegedly benefiting in Ireland of a better taxation and several of Google’s, including one for allegedly forcing manufacturers to include their apps on the devices with Android operating system.
If it is found that the allegations of the EU are true, Facebook might be forced to pay a fine equivalent to one per cent of its total turnover, as stipulated by european law. Facebook won in 2015, approximately US$ 17,000 million.
“Our review in a timely and effective merger depends on the accuracy of the information provided by the companies involved,” said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a statement. “In this particular case, the preliminary opinion of the Commission is that Facebook gave us incorrect or misleading information during the investigation about his acquisition of WhatsApp”.
Facebook now has until 31 January to put together a formal response to the objections of the Commission. But in the meantime, the company said it will continue cooperating and sharing the information that the officers need to respond to your questions.
“we Respect the Commission process and we are confident that a full review of the facts will confirm that Facebook has acted in good faith,” said a company spokesperson in a statement.
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