WhatsApp to Clean up User Messaging in EU

WhatsApp agreed to comply with the European Union’s (EU) terms on consumer protection, which include prohibiting the tech giant from sharing personal data with third parties.

In January 2022, the European Commission’s Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network sent a letter to WhatsApp following an alert over claims by eight members that the app was using unfair practices in their terms of service and privacy policy updates.

Later in June, the platform received a second letter indicating that the consumers must be clearly informed about WhatsApp’s business model.

Last November, media outlets reported that phone numbers of nearly 500 million WhatsApp users are put on sale online in what could be one of the biggest data breaches.

Based on Cybernews, an actor posted an ad on a hacking community forum, alleging that it is selling a 2022 database of 487 million WhatsApp user mobile numbers.

The database contains mobile numbers of WhatsApp users from 84 different countries, including the US, the UK, Egypt, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and India.