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Turkey probes WhatsApp-Facebook data sharing
The encrypted messaging app last week asked more than a billion of its users outside the European Union and Britain to accept the new terms or lose access to WhatsApp on February 8.
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WhatsApp co-founder expressed a remark on Facebook after it is revealed that the user data were misused. (Shutterstock/Alexander Supertramp)
Turkey's competition authority on Monday opened an investigation into WhatsApp's decision to share more of its user data with its parent company Facebook.
The encrypted messaging app last week asked more than a billion of its users outside the European Union and Britain to accept the new terms or lose access to WhatsApp on February 8.
Several Turkish state organisations -- including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's media office -- switched to Turkcell telecom's new messaging service BiP in response.
The Turkish Competition Authority said Monday it was opening an investigation and requiring WhatsApp to suspend the data sharing obligation on its users.
It was not immediately clear how its suspension could be enforced and Facebook issued no immediate comment.
Technology experts note that WhatsApp's new requirement of its users makes legally binding a policy that has been widely in use since 2016.
Facebook aims to monetise WhatsApp by allowing businesses to contact clients via the platform.
WhatsApp's announcement has led some security conscious users to switch to messaging services such as Signal and Telegram -- founded by the Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov.
BiP said on Sunday that it had gained two million users in the preceding 48-hour span.
