WhatsApp could face prosecution on poor privacy

Dutch and Canadian privacy commissioners conducted a yearlong investigation into the popular mobile app

A yearlong investigation by government privacy watchdogs in Canada and the Netherlands identified major weaknesses in the way the WhatsApp cellphone messaging application handled the personal information of its users.

Many of the problems have since been fixed, but Dutch authorities have yet to decide whether they will attempt to prosecute WhatsApp under Dutch privacy law, the two organizations said in a joint statement on Monday.

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(Jennifer Baker in Brussels contributed to this report.)

Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address is martyn_williams@idg.com

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