As announced in recent weeks, WhatsApp is preparing for changes necessary to comply with the directives imposed by the European Union. First of all, the historical opening to other platforms must be mentioned, which will allow users to interact with friends and relatives registered on other similar apps. The new age limit for accessing the platform is also among the new features. But let's look at them specifically.
Digital Markets Act
It all started from Digital Markets Act issued by the European Union together Digital Services Act. Both regulations aim to regulate what are defined as gatekeeper platforms, i.e. those capable of emerging from others in the market world. WhatsApp, belonging to the Meta group, is one of these. The EU regulation, however, also targets other giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance and Microsoft. The intent is to give the same possibilities to other less “powerful” entities on the market. It was, essentially, a antitrust measure.
The “open” chat of the future
To adapt to the EU's requests, WhatsApp has updated its data terms of service as well as its privacy policy. Those who downloaded the application after February 15th have already found and accepted the new features, while for those who were already registered the new provisions will be operational very soon. A notification should be sent to them in the next few days.
The watchword, as desired by the EU, will be opening. Openness towards other platforms with which, whoever wants, will be able to interact from WhatsApp. Starting from April 11th, users will be able to chat with those on other platforms such as Signal, Telegram and the like, even if there are some limitations. First of all, in fact, the opening request must be sent by the minor apps, and not by WhatsApp. To obtain the opening, after the request, you must wait 3 months. Finally, there will be rules that other platforms will have to respect to get the green light, such as guaranteeing a good level of security and the use of encryption. These are terms that WhatsApp has imposed to continue to protect the privacy of its users.
To take advantage of the new feature, simply search for the Settings command in the WhatsApp menu, where we will find the item Third party chat.
The age limit
What will also change will be the age limit required to access the platform. Until now, in some countries you had to be 16 years old to sign up for WhatsApp, but very soon the minimum age will drop to 13, as it is already in the United States and some EU countries. “This update will ensure globally consistent minimum age requirements for WhatsApp”representatives of the platform said, as reported by Republic.
Safety guaranteed
Finally, WhatsApp will continue its efforts to protect the privacy and the safety of its users. In fact, changes to the international data transfer mechanisms are planned. “For users in the European region we will rely on the new EU-US Data Privacy Framework“, they said from the WhatsApp team.
And for those who use the Channels there is already a Privacy Policy to consult.