If you want to use WhatsApp, you normally have to agree to all kinds of terms of use. If they change, you must also agree to this. At least that’s how it was. As a result of talks between the EU and WhatsApp, it has now been decided that new terms of use will no longer be mandatory.
The reason why the European Union considers it important that WhatsApp should not be allowed to make anything mandatory is that it would otherwise get too much power. It can then, for example, push through new rules that are not at all in favor of users. The EU exists, among other things, to protect European citizens and it does not want WhatsApp to be allowed to come up with policies that could harm citizens.
WhatsApp will first of all inform users of the app better when the policy changes, but also what exactly changes and what that means for users. This way you can better decide for yourself whether you still want to use the service if drastic changes are coming. In addition, WhatsApp also promises to abandon its plans to link WhatsApp accounts to Facebook accounts and show advertisements based on personal preferences. WhatsApp will not share any personal data with Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Facebook, for the purpose of advertising.
European laws and regulations
For years, the EU has had an eye on the big tech companies that seem to run the world. Meta is very powerful with WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, but also Bytedance, for example, which operates the video app TikTok. Facebook and Apple are also extremely powerful companies that can also regularly count on fines from the EU, because they do not always take ads, privacy and tracking very seriously. Incidentally, it does not apply to WhatsApp that it is now mandatory to require approvals for new terms of use. But if WhatsApp violates the rules, fines can be imposed by the EU. So no matter how you look at it: WhatsApp must be careful, both with its communication and with which promises it may break.
WhatsApp sometimes changes its conditions, although it often reverses things due to a lot of fuss. The concerns are usually mainly about where WhatsApp stores the data and with whom it shares that data, especially since the service was bought by Facebook in 2014. It has also stated several times that and how it wants to share or share data with Facebook, something that often leads to many negative reactions. Previously, you had to agree to WhatsApp’s terms of use in order to use the service, without often knowing exactly what was changing. Changes are now coming, although in practice we first have to see what WhatsApp’s word is worth in this regard. It really wants to share data with Facebook, which Europe has been working against for years.
