Facebook completes its $19 billion acquisition of Whatsapp

Well, that was quick: it's only been three days since Facebook cleared the last, decidedly European hurdle to closing its $19 billion Whatsapp acquisition, and it's already made things official with the SEC. Regulators in the United States and Europe were concerned about the effects the deal would have on competition in the rough-and-tumble messaging realm (though Google is apparently gearing up to give the combine social giant a run for its money), but the other major concern was making sure user data stays private. Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, put it bluntly back in April (PDF warning): to hear her tell it, "WhatsApp has made a number of promises about the limited nature of the data it collects, maintains, and shares with third parties – promises that exceed the protections currently promised to Facebook users." Facebook apparently managed to ease those fears, but with the deal now closed it's time to see what the folks at 1 Hacker Way actually do with Whatsapp. Our guess? Nothing too great.