WhatsApp’s legal troubles continue in Brazil. The cross-platform messaging service has already been blocked and unblocked multiple times in the country as it’s being told to supply messaging data of users who are under criminal investigation in the country. Since WhatsApp communications are encrypted end-to-end even the company doesn’t have access to that data. The public federal prosecutor in Brazil’s Amazonas has said that the court there has frozen 38 million reais ($11.7 million) held in Facebook’s account.
Just in case you’re wondering why Facebook’s funds are being frozen in an issue that’s related to WhatsApp, it’s because Facebook owns WhatsApp.
The prosecutor’s office has said that the decision to freeze these funds was made after the company failed to comply with the court order to hand over data of users who are under criminal investigation. The funds have been held in fines that correspond to the failure to comply with the order.
Facebook has not immediately commented on the matter but it’s likely to challenge the freezing of nearly $12 million of its funds. WhatsApp has maintained its position throughout the entire squabble, that the data is encrypted end-to-end which is why it’s unable to access it and comply with the court order. It appears that WhatsApp’s legal troubles in Brazil are far from over.
Filed in . Read more about Facebook and Whatsapp. Source: reuters