EU lawmakers agree to strengthen privacy rules for WhatsApp, Skype

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers voted on Thursday to bring online messaging and email services such as WhatsApp and Skype into the scope of tough telecoms privacy rules that will restrict how they can track users. The vote in the European Parliament's civil liberties committee was hailed as a step forward by privacy activists but heavily criticised by industry for being too restrictive and inconsistent with a separate data protection regulation.