Technology News - Facebook to Open New London HQ, Create 500 New UK Jobs

Facebook will open a new London headquarters next year and create another 500 jobs, the leading social network said Monday, despite uncertainty over Brexit.

The group said the move will take its UK workforce to 1,500 staff, adding that Britain "remains one of the best places to be a tech company", amid ongoing jitters over the nation's looming exit from the European Union.

The news comes one week after US tech giant Google confirmed it would expand its vast London campus in a move that could bring 3,000 more jobs.

The Facebook announcement will be confirmed later at the annual meeting of top business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry, which is the country's top employers' organisation.

"The UK remains one of the best places to be a tech company and is an important part of Facebook's story," said Nicola Mendelsohn, the company's vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"We came to London in 2007 with just a handful of people, by the end of next year we will have opened a new HQ and plan to employ 1500 people," she added in a statement.

"Many of those new roles will be high skilled engineering jobs as the UK is home to our largest engineering base outside of the US."

A spokeswoman added that the new office is currently under construction in the bohemian central district of Fitzrovia.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed the news from the US giant.

"Facebook's decision to expand in London is further evidence that London's strength as a tech hub keeps on growing," Khan said.

"It follows news that London remains the best city in Europe for digital startups.

"The capital's vibrant tech scene is the envy of Europe and Facebook's continuing commitment is another sign that London is open to talent, innovation and entrepreneurship from all four corners of the world."

Last Tuesday, Google revealed it will add a new office building to a complex currently under development behind London's King's Cross train station.

An estimated 3,000 jobs will be created by the move. A total of 7,000 Google staff will eventually be working at the hub, which is set to open in 2018.

WhatsApp Suspends Giving Facebook European User Data

WhatsApp has temporarily suspended giving parent company Facebook information about users in Europe for ad targeting, responding to concerns there over privacy, a source close to the matter said Tuesday.

Conversations with officials in Europe over the past few months resulted in the social network deciding to only tapping into WhatsApp user data there for purposes such as fighting spam, according to the source.

The break was described as an effort to give regulators time to share privacy concerns and for Facebook to consider ways to address them.

German data protection authorities in September cited privacy concerns when they blocked Facebook from collecting subscriber data from WhatsApp there.

"It has to be (the users') decision whether they want to connect their account with Facebook," Hamburg's Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar said at the time.

"Facebook has to ask for their permission in advance."

WhatsApp announced in August that it would begin sharing data with Facebook, in a bid to allow better targeted advertising and to combat spam on the platform.

Users of the instant messenger were given the ability to opt out of sending information to Facebook through settings in WhatsApp's applications on smartphones.

European data protection group G29 formally expressed its concerns at the end of October.

The G29 sent letters asking Facebook and WhatsApp to stop sharing data until appropriate legal safeguards were in place.

The sharing of WhatsApp user information with Facebook went beyond what subscribers consented to in the original terms of service, the G29 reasoned.

Facebook bought WhatsApp about two years ago in a deal valued about $19 billion.

In mid-September, the European Commission recommended tighter privacy and security requirements for services including WhatsApp and Microsoft-owned video calling service Skype, saying they should be regulated more like traditional telecoms.

Under the proposal, the commission would require companies like WhatsApp or Skype to offer emergency-calling services when customers dial traditional phone numbers as well as obey stricter privacy rules.