Facebook VP in Latin America Diego Dzodan was arrested by the Brazilian federal police on Tuesday for not handing over details contained in a certain WhatsApp account involved in a drug-trafficking case.
The authorities in the country took the executive into custody, detaining him in what they call a "preventive prison." The term usually lasts one week, but it could be extended, according to the law enforcers.
In an official statement, the federal police says that the fault of Dzodan is a "repeated non-compliance with court orders," an excerpt translated from Portuguese.
A spokesperson of the Sergipe court says (translated) that this most recent matter is a separate case, noting that Facebook has already received three opportunities to comply with the authorities' request in similar events in the past.
Tussles with government bodies are becoming increasingly common for tech companies nowadays, as Apple is also facing a run-in with the law over an iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters, an incident that took the lives of 14 people back in December.
Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have expressed their support for the Cupertino brand, backing the company up in court.
These tech companies are determined to not yield to such demands for the sake of user privacy, where they have the responsibility to keep their users' personal information from falling into the wrong hands.
However, there is a big difference between the legal kerfuffle of Apple and the case of WhatsApp. The Facebook-owned company isn't capable of providing what the Brazilian federal police wants, as it doesn't retain user messages as a protective measure. New encryption updates only made the situation worse, leading to the arrest of Dzodan.
It's also worth mentioning that WhatsApp was shut down in Brazil about three months ago, but an appeals court revoked the order soon after.
Of course, Facebook is not happy with what the Brazilian authorities did to one of its executives, condemning their actions.
"[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. Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have," a Facebook spokesperson says.
