German car parts supplier Continental on Tuesday June 05,2018 said it was banning the
use of WhatsApp and Snapchat on work-issued mobile phones "with
immediate effect" because of data protection concerns.
The company said such social media apps had "deficiencies" that made it difficult to comply with tough new EU data protection legislation, especially their insistence on having access to a user's contact list.
"Continental is prohibiting its employees from using social media apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat in its global company network, effective immediately," the firm said in a statement.
Some 36,000 employees would be affected by the move, a Continental spokesman told
The company, one of the world's leading makers of car parts, has over 240,000 staff globally.
A key principle of the European Union's new general data protection regulation (GDPR), which came into force on May 25, is that individuals must explicitly grant permission for their data to be used.
But Continental said that by demanding full access to address books, WhatsApp for example had shifted the burden onto the user, essentially expecting them to contact everyone in their phone to let them know their data was being shared.
"We think it is unacceptable to transfer to users the responsibility of complying with data protection laws," said Continental's CEO Elmar Degenhart.
The company said such social media apps had "deficiencies" that made it difficult to comply with tough new EU data protection legislation, especially their insistence on having access to a user's contact list.
"Continental is prohibiting its employees from using social media apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat in its global company network, effective immediately," the firm said in a statement.
Some 36,000 employees would be affected by the move, a Continental spokesman told
The company, one of the world's leading makers of car parts, has over 240,000 staff globally.
A key principle of the European Union's new general data protection regulation (GDPR), which came into force on May 25, is that individuals must explicitly grant permission for their data to be used.
But Continental said that by demanding full access to address books, WhatsApp for example had shifted the burden onto the user, essentially expecting them to contact everyone in their phone to let them know their data was being shared.
"We think it is unacceptable to transfer to users the responsibility of complying with data protection laws," said Continental's CEO Elmar Degenhart.
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