Turkey fines Whatsapp for violating privacy rules

In this photo illustration, a computer screen displays the logo of “WhatsApp” and a padlock is seen next to this logo in Antalya, Turkey on February 28, 2021 [Mustafa Çiftçi/Anadolu Agency]

Turkey’s data protection authority has fined WhatsApp nearly $235,000 for violating privacy rules, local media reports.

According to reports, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) announced that it had fined WhatsApp 1,950,000 Turkish lira and ordered the app to bring its privacy policy in line with Turkish laws.

WhatsApp has to take “the necessary measures to avoid processing personal data contrary to the law”, the KVKK said.

In January, the Turkish government urged citizens to use a local messaging application, BiP, developed by mobile phone operator Turkcell, instead of WhatsApp. While the country’s antitrust board launched an investigation into Facebook Inc. and its messaging service WhatsApp Inc. over new usage terms that sparked privacy concerns.

In November, Turkey fined global social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, 10 million lira ($1.18 million) each for not complying with a new social media law.

READ: Turkey launches probe into Facebook over data leak

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.