This week:
3 – WhatsApp’s cost for regulatory compliance ‘challenges’ in Europe? €203m.
2 – The cost of deleting a WhatsApp conversation? €15m.
1 – The cost of not enabling MFA on your WhatsApp account? Lots of hassle and embarrassment.
3 – WhatsApp’s cost for regulatory compliance ‘challenges’ in Europe? €203m.
“The Irish unit of WhatsApp recorded a pre-tax loss of €7.34m last year, mainly driven by an increase in company estimates of the impact of regulatory administrative fines on the firm..”
Summary: WhatsApp’s Irish unit (which acts as the data controller for European users of the WhatsApp service) reported a loss in 2023. This is largely due to increased administrative expenses and fines related to data protection violations, for which the company has provisioned over €203 million. Despite a rise in revenue, these costs outweighed gains, reflecting ongoing challenges in compliance and operational management.
So what? Perhaps the financial impact of ongoing regulatory challenges may causes WhatsApp and its owner (Meta) to reconsider what they are doing with users’ data. But I doubt it. Surveillance capitalism is too profitable (despite the paper losses reported this year).
Source: RTÉ News
2 – The cost of deleting a WhatsApp conversation? €15m.
“€15m fine [issued by the European Comission] for deleted WhatsApp message is a wake up call for executives.”
Summary: The European Commission has fined a company €15 million after it discovered that a senior employee at the company intentionally deleted WhatsApp messages when they found out the Commission had inspected the company’s offices as part of an antitrust investigation. The fine equates to 0.3% of the company’s total turnover.
So what? Does your Employee Handbook make it clear to staff how they should conduct business, which platforms / tools are permitted, and explain how data retention rules apply to more than just emails?
Source: Irish Independent
1 – The cost of not enabling MFA on your WhatsApp account? Lots of hassle and embarrassment.
“Once the fraudster can access the victim’s WhatsApp account, they activate two-step verification, locking the real owner out.”
Summary: Scammers love WhatsApp because they just need to fool you into revealing a 6-digit security code to be able to take over your account, block your access, and then use your WhatsApp account to target all your WhatsApp contacts. You may think you’d never be fooled, but all it takes is the right message at the right time to catch you (or me) out. A friend of mine was almost a victim of this scam earlier this week. Luckily, they acted quickly and shut the door just in time.
So what? If you are a WhatsApp user, enable MFA (called “Two-Step Verification” on WhatsApp) right now. This should ensure a scammer cannot take over your WhatsApp account with just a 6-digit security code. To do it, go to Settings > Account > Two-step verification > Enable. And if you ever get an unusual request from a friend or group member, contact them directly (outside WhatsApp) to confirm their request.
Source: BitDefender