South Africa is taking on Whatsapp, over their latest updates.
The Information Regulator (IR) has written to Facebook South Africa, about the statement released by WhatsApp, detailing changes that a user will face if they ignore Facebook’s terms by the deadline of the 15th of May.
Users who do not accept the terms will be able to receive calls and notifications for a short time but will not be able to read or send messages from the app.
Spokesperson Numzano Zondi says that their office needs to give consent to process cell phone numbers as accessed on the user’s contact list for a purpose other than the one for which the number was specifically intended when collected.
He says on top of that, it also wants to know why users in Europe will receive significantly higher privacy protection than people in South Africa and Africa.
The IR has indicated to Facebook SA that it is willing and committed to having a round-table discussion regarding the issues raised to ensure that there is full compliance by the WhatsApp Privacy Policy with the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and other pertinent international legal instruments.
Zondi says a spokesperson from WhatsApp responded as follows:
We are reviewing a letter from the Information Regulator in South Africa, which relates to our privacy policy. To be clear, this update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook and does not impact the privacy of your messages with friends or family wherever they are in the world. WhatsApp does not share your contacts with Facebook and that policy applies to users everywhere, including in South Africa. We remain fully committed to delivering secure and private communications for everyone.”
