Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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.

9 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Mark zuckerberg is #6 richest man in the world by NotInHere · · Score: 2

    He is rich, insanely rich. Its all just the facebook brand, some servers, some code, some employees. Nothing much. Still he is #6. Why? Because he keeps his brand relevant. If it came out he cooperates with the authorities, who will use facebook?

    Do you think he will ever cooperate with the state authorities again? It will hurt his image. It will lower the valuation of the company. He doesn't want that. So at least to the public he acts like he refuses to let the states spy on their people. What happens in the NDA covered parts is a different matter, but it doesn't affect facebook stock negatively. In fact perhaps even positively because it may allow him enter markets that were closed without cooperation with the authorities.

    1. Re:Mark zuckerberg is #6 richest man in the world by penguinoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Dunno about you, but I don't have a bunch of crimes to hide,

      Are you sure? What country do you live in?

      and I don't mind court granted access to suspected criminal communications.

      As if it would end there.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    2. Re:Mark zuckerberg is #6 richest man in the world by fuzznutz · · Score: 2

      Just more anti govt haters. The police are after the bad guys. Sorry to break it to you, nobody is spying on you. You're just not that interesting.

      Snowden revealed facts which do not support your assertions. Whether or not a human being manually reviewed your individual data does not obviate the fact that you were spied upon by your own government without cause if you made any phone calls in the past ten years.

  2. 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.

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    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.

      --
      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.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  3. Re:Hmm... by NotInHere · · Score: 3, Informative

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

  4. Re:didn't expect this by Edis+Krad · · Score: 2

    Not for free, they won't ;3

  5. I do like the punishment by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 2

    Not going to say that I like th courts trying to force data collection (although this seems to be targetted at a single suspect with a warrant), but I do like shutting down a company for two days to punish it. If Wall Street firms weren't allowed to trade for a few days, with their positions locked, as punishments, maybe we would start seeing better behavior.

    --
    Your ad here. Ask me how!