CK Hutchison Launches Arbitration After Panama Court Revokes Canal Port Licences 
Minnesota Judge Rejects Bid to Halt Trump Immigration Enforcement in Minneapolis 
Norway Opens Corruption Probe Into Former PM and Nobel Committee Chair Thorbjoern Jagland Over Epstein Links 
Citigroup Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Sexual Harassment by Top Wealth Executive 
Federal Judge Signals Possible Dismissal of xAI Lawsuit Against OpenAI 
Trump Family Files $10 Billion Lawsuit Over IRS Tax Disclosure 
Google Halts UK YouTube TV Measurement Service After Legal Action 
Nvidia Nears $20 Billion OpenAI Investment as AI Funding Race Intensifies 
SoftBank and Intel Partner to Develop Next-Generation Memory Chips for AI Data Centers 
Baidu Approves $5 Billion Share Buyback and Plans First-Ever Dividend in 2026 
SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates 
Federal Judge Restores Funding for Gateway Rail Tunnel Project 
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Nintendo Shares Slide After Earnings Miss Raises Switch 2 Margin Concerns 
SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for Massive Solar-Powered Satellite Network to Support AI Data Centers 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
US Judge Rejects $2.36B Penalty Bid Against Google in Privacy Data Case 
Facebook just got an order from the German government to stop collecting the information of WhatsApp users in the country. This is in response to the recent announcement by the chat service that it would be providing Facebook with information on users so that the biggest social media company in the world can make money off it.
The announcement by WhatsApp to give Facebook access to user data a month ago was met with shock and harsh criticism. This was largely because it basically broke its promise not to share user data with Facebook when it was first acquired for $19 billion by the latter. Facebook agreed to this condition as well, which put the minds of users at ease at the time. By reneging on its promises, the social network and the popular messaging app violated Germany’s data protection law, Tech Crunch reports.
Germany’s DPA released a statement about its decision to force Facebook’s data mining activities to stop, with Commissioner Johannes Caspar stating that the social network does not have the permission of WhatsApp users. The order also includes the demand to delete the information that Facebook had already gathered from 35 million German WhatsApp users.
“The arrangement protects the data of about 35 million WhatsApp users in Germany,” the order reads when translated into English. “It has to be their respective decision whether they want to connect their account with Facebook. This requires Facebook to ask permission beforehand. This has not happened.”
Following this move by Germany, other countries in Europe might follow suit. Privacy watchdogs in France are already following the situation with WhatsApp closely, The Verge reports. Britain’s Information Commission's Office is doing the same, though the ICO has no power to block or even regulate any move by Facebook to data mine users in the UK.
When asked about the situation, a spokesperson for Facebook said that the social network is complying with Germany’s orders for now. The social media giant is planning to appeal the decision.
