Facebook facing huge fines over Whatsapp merger

The European Commission is poised to fine Facebook for misleading authorities during its takeover of WhatsApp the messaging service in 2014 according to the latest case of Brussels flexing their muscles.

The commission will not reverse its decision on the merger itself but is expected to levy a large penalty to deter other groups from providing misleading information. They can impose a maximum fine of 1 per cent of Facebook’s 2016 turnover, or £237m ($276m), although the amount of the fine is not yet disclosed. Margarethe Vestager, EU competition chief, said when she announced in December 2016, charging Facebook with misleading it during the approval process of its $21.8bn takeover of WhatsApp, “Timely and effective review of mergers depends on the accuracy of the information provided by the companies involved”.

Facebook had falsely claimed that it was impossible to combine user data from Facebook and WhatsApp automatically.

WhataApp announced last summer that it would share user information with its parent company for the first time so that personal details such as phone numbers and device information which could be used to target advertisement and improve products on Facebook.

Several European data privacy watchdogs have criticised Facebook and appealed directly to WhatsApp’s co-founder Jan Koum to suspend sharing users’ data until the legality of the Issue can be resolved.