WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, is hugely popular in Brazil.
Aloysius Low/CNET
Apple isn't the only tech company sparring with law enforcement over privacy.
A Facebook executive was arrested by Brazilian federal police Tuesday for not tuing over information from a WhatsApp account that linked to a drug trafficking investigation.
Diego Dzodan, a vice president for the Menlo Park, Califoia-based company, was taken into custody because of "repeated non-compliance with court orders," according to a statement from police, translated from Portuguese. Brazilian authorities could hold him for a week or more, according to The New York Times.
At stake is what the tech industry believes is its duty to safeguard the privacy of its users, while law enforcement officials say they need access to data as a matter of national security and law. Apple is embroiled in a similar episode -- a high-profile battle in the United States against the FBI for data from an iPhone used by a terrorist in the San Beardino, Califoia, shootings in December.
Facebook is expected to file an amicus brief in support of Apple this week, along with Google, Twitter and Microsoft.
In WhatsApp's case, the company may not be able to help Brazilian authorities because it does not store users' messages, and it has been rolling out encryption to protect communications between people. So, unlike Apple, WhatsApp says it cannot provide information it does not have.
This isn't the only scuffle WhatsApp, which is used by one billion people worldwide, has had in Brazil. In December, a judge ordered the shutdown of WhatsApp for the country for two days after not complying with a criminal investigation, but the ruling was overtued the next day.
Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, condemned the Brazilian govement's move.
"We're disappointed with the extreme and disproportionate measure of having a Facebook executive escorted to a police station in connection with a case involving WhatsApp, which operates separately from Facebook," a spokesman said. "Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have."
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