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Brazil Facebook Head Arrested For Refusing To Share WhatsApp Data (bbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the shrouded-in-secrecy dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Diego Dzodan, an Argentine national and Facebook's vice president for Latin America, has repeatedly refused to comply with court orders to hand over data for use in a criminal investigation of a WhatsApp user suspected of drug trafficking, police said. His arrest relates to the messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Facebook. In a statement, Facebook called Mr. Dzodan's arrest an "extreme and disproportionate measure." The company said, "Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have." Judge Marcel Maia Montalvao had in two previous instances issued fines against Facebook for refusing to release WhatsApp data. In December, a judge in Brazil suspended WhatsApp for 48 hours in a similar case.

4 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. What data did they want? by penguinoid · · Score: 3, Informative

    The article does not mention what data they asked for, only that FB refused to give it.

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    1. Re:What data did they want? by morcego · · Score: 5, Informative

      It is data for an specific users, based on specified phone number, relating to an on going criminal case.
      This is not a police investigation, but a court order, so there is at least enough evidence that there is a crime and who committed it to to warrant a criminal prosecution.

      According to Brazilian law, law enforcement agencies can not request this kind of information without a court order and, to get that order, they have to show "just case", meaning evidence of authorship and materiality (that a crime really happened).

      I don't agree with the prison order, which was disproportionate. But the request for data was legal and legitimate. Facebook is hiding behind the "the servers are not physically located in Brazil, so we don't have to comply" argument.

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      morcego
    2. Re:What data did they want? by Mal-2 · · Score: 3, Informative

      This is analogous to U.S. authorities trying to order access to e-mail stored in Ireland, and Microsoft said no in that case. So the precedent has been set in motion, though the Microsoft case is far from decided. Facebook is playing a slightly different game though, because the user in question resides in the country making the request, whereas in Microsoft's case, the DoJ wants e-mails from an account that belongs to a non-American.

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  2. Re:Hmm... by NotInHere · · Score: 3, Informative

    By the way he is from Argentina. Same continent, different country, different language.