Big tech companies are regularly criticized for their monopoly position. This is changing with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into force in March – also for the interoperability of messenger services. According to its requirements, gatekeeper Meta must first open up and allow users to exchange messages with other messengers via their messenger services WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Meta is now giving a first insight into what the connection to third-party chats will look like for users.
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In the future, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger users will be able to select third-party apps from which they would like to receive messages. Users will also be informed about which third-party app is connected to WhatsApp and “accessible”.
(Bild: Meta)
The plan is for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger users to receive a notification about available third-party chats and their activation.
Users can choose which third-party apps they want to receive messages from and how they want to manage their inbox. This is Meta sea individually. Some users may prefer one inbox for all messages, others prefer a separate inbox. The setting should be able to be changed at any time.
Meta wants for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger according to own statements also go beyond the interoperable messages that Meta is obliged to provide. Direct replies, reactions to messages and read receipts should also be possible. It is still unclear when and which messengers will integrate Meta’s interfaces. From 2025, the option to create groups should be available for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and voice and video calls from 2027.
Agreement with Meta
Services that want to implement a connection to WhatsApp or Messenger, must sign an agreementbefore the company works with them to implement interoperability.
Meta asks other providers to use Signal’s encryption protocol, which relies on the Double Ratchet algorithm, but also accepts other protocols as long as they meet the same security standards, thus supporting the work of the “More Instant Messaging Interoperability“, or MIMI for short, of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
Data security shared responsibility
Signal does not want to cooperate with Meta due to security concerns. Its boss Meredith Whittaker fears that this will endanger users’ data protection. Meta itself also described data security as a challenge, since both Meta and the connected company then share responsibility for secure communication. However, MIMI members such as Matrix founder Matthew Hodgson are confident that data protection can also be guaranteed with interoperability.
(mack)
