WhatsApp, Gmail Roped Into Tougher EU Privacy Proposal (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @03:20AM from the some-concerns dept.

Online messaging and email services such as WhatsApp, iMessage and Gmail will face tough new rules on how they can track users under a proposal presented by the European Union executive on Tuesday. From a report: The web players will have to guarantee the confidentiality of their customers' conversations and ask for their consent before tracking them online to serve them personalized ads. The proposal by the European Commission extends some rules that now only apply to telecom operators to web companies offering calls and messages using the internet, known as "Over-The-Top" (OTT) services, seeking to close a perceived regulatory gap between the telecoms industry and mainly U.S. Internet giants such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

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Re:Be careful what you wish for... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-01-10 03:40 · Score: 4, Insightful

What's wrong with that? Privacy is much more important than the ability for law enforcement to read conversations, especially if creating that ability involves creating lots of potential for abuse.