Turkey launches privacy investigations into WhatsApp and Facebook

According to Euronews, Turkey’s competition authority has opened an investigation into WhatsApp over a new update that requires users to share more data with its parent company, Facebook. Due to the update, WhatsApp users based outside of Europe will have to agree to share their personal data including phone numbers and locations with Facebook. Turkish authorities have called for the new terms to be ‘suspended’ pending the findings of the investigation. The Associated Press reports that the Turkish Competition Board would focus its investigation on whether Facebook and WhatsApp were in violation of Article 6 of Turkey’s competition laws which bar companies from ‘abusing their dominant positions’.