The Italian Competition Authority has fined Facebook owned Whatsapp EUR 3 million for forcing its to accept in full, the provision to share their personal data with Facebook, "by inducing them to believe that without granting such consent they would not have been able to use the service anymore." Hat tip: Monica Jasuja on Twitter. The press release from the authority specified that the in-app procedure for obtaining the acceptance of the new Terms of Use: 1. Had an excessive emphasis on the need to subscribe within 30 days, failing which users would not be able to use the service. 2. Whatsapp made it difficult for users to figure out whether they could deny consent to share this information with Facebook 3. A pre-selected opt-in 4. The difficulty of opting out once the Terms of Use were accepted in full. The ruling also deemed illicit unfair terms of use in the contract, including those related to limitation of Whatsapp's liability, the possibility to unilaterally interrupt the service without reason or advance notice, or disallow a user to access/use the service, a limitation of jurisdiction to California for settling disputes, among other issues (noted in the press release below). We've written to Facebook for inputs on how it intends to change the Whatsapp terms of use. You may read Whatsapp's terms of use here. Quick comments 1. It's worth noting that today the Whatsapp Privacy case is being heard today in the Supreme Court of India. This judgment may be used for reference in…
