The digital landscape is constantly changing and the applications we use every day adapt to it. WhatsApp, the most used messaging application in Spain, is no exception. Under the direction of Goal, the company is implementing crucial changes to its terms of service and privacy policies. This move is necessary to comply with the new regulations of the European Unionand users must accept these modified terms to continue using the application.
Whatsapp update
This change arises from the Digital Services Law and the Digital Markets Law, enacted by the European Commission in 2020 and which apply from 2024. Both laws seek to balance power in the digital space and ensure the protection of user rights. The new rules also established that companies that do not comply with these new regulations could face significant sanctions, which could reach up to 10% of your income annual.
But WhatsApp is not only changing its terms of use. The application is also introducing some interesting new features. In accordance with the modifications in European regulations, the minimum age to use WhatsApp has been reduced from 16 to 13 years old, aligning with the age rules that apply in the rest of the world.; although no details have yet been provided on how WhatsApp will verify the age of its users or how it will establish parental controls.
In addition, from now on, end-to-end encrypted conversations on WhatsApp will be identified with the padlock icon. It is true that all conversations were already encrypted since 2016 (only the sender and receiver can read the messages). However, with this new icon, users will be able to clearly identify which of their conversations are encrypted and secure.
Now, of all the updates added by Whatsapp, the most anticipated by users is interoperability with other messaging applications.
How interoperability will work in WhatsApp
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger They will be compatible with each other and with other messaging applications. This means that from now on you will be able to access your conversations on other platforms, such as TelegramFor example, directly from WhatsApp or Messenger. Although the initial focus of interoperability is on text, voice, image, video, and file messaging, it is expected that calls and group chats be included in the future.
However, this will only be possible if these platforms comply with the security conditions imposed by Meta, which include end-to-end encryption, which aims to guarantee the privacy of conversations. In the case of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, the protocol used is E2EE Signal. However, Meta explains that there will be some flexibility.
With the purpose of maximize security of users, we would prefer that third-party providers use the Signal Protocol. However, since this has to work for everyone, we will allow third-party providers to use a compatible protocol if they are able to demonstrate that it offers the same security guarantees that Signal.
It is important to point out that the use of this interoperability function it's optional. Users have the freedom to decide if they want to take advantage of it. And although not all the details are yet known, what we do know is that those who decide to take advantage of this new functionality will see the chats from external applications in a separate tab, under the heading “Third party chats”. Thus, they will not interfere with the main screen of WhatsApp conversations.