Tyre giant Continental bans staff from using Snapchat and WhatsApp over data protection fears

Continental AG flags
Continental AG is an automotive company headquartered in Germany

Automotive giant Continental has banned workers from using WhatsApp and Snapchat over concerns the apps might be leaking confidential information to third parties.

The German company said the apps “have deficiencies when it comes to data protection, as they access a users’ personal and potentially confidential data such as contacts, and thus the information of third parties who are not involved.”

The ban, which is effective immediately for 240,000 employees in 61 countries, follows the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which gives companies and organisations that collect and store personal information more liability in the event of a breach.

Continental’s chief executive Dr Elmar Degenhart said due to the rise of social media and smartphones, employees were now becoming data controllers because they often use their devices for work. By banning these apps, workers would not be liable for possible data breaches in the future.

Dr Deganhart said: “We think it is unacceptable to transfer to users the responsibility of complying with data protection laws. This is why we are turning to secure alternatives.”

WhatsApp
Continental says it is taking responsibility for data protection across its company by banning the apps Credit: Getty

For some time now, data protection authorities and courts, particularly in Germany, have expressed their serious concerns about the social-media apps’ compliance with GDPR, which came into effect on May 25.

It said it would consider lifting the ban if WhatsApp or Snapchat changed the settings so that apps complied with the new regulations “by default”.

Many companies have blocked websites like Facebook and Twitter from being accessible by employees while in the office. However smartphones make it easier for workers to access social media and email potentially confidential documents to themselves, typically so they can work on the files while at home.

Facebook has developed its own work-friendly social network called Workplace, which looks similar to the original but only connects staff members.

A Snap spokesperson said: “Privacy is core to everything we do at Snapchat. Continental is wrong to suggest our compliance with GDPR shifts the burden to the user.

"Unlike other platforms, it is completely up to the user whether they wish to grant access to contacts in Snapchat. If users do upload their contacts to their account they can stop syncing them and delete them at any time from within the app. We also do not store non-user contacts.”

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