This article was originally published in
German
and has been automatically translated.
Big tech companies are regularly criticized for their monopoly position. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) –, which came into force in March, also changes this 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 its messenger services WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Meta is now providing an initial insight into what the connection to third-party chats should look like for users.
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In future, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger users will be able to select third-party apps from which they wish to receive messages. Users will also be informed about which third-party app is connected to WhatsApp and “accessible”.
(Image: 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 would like to receive messages from and how they would like to manage their inbox. According to Meta, this is individual. Some users may prefer one inbox for all messages, others may prefer a separate inbox. The setting can be changed at any time.
According to Meta , it also wants to go beyond the interoperable messages for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger that Meta is committed to. This means that direct replies, reactions to messages and read receipts will also be possible. It is not yet clear when which messengers will integrate Meta’s interfaces. The option to create groups will be available for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger from 2025 and voice and video calls from 2027.
Agreement with Meta
Services that want to implement a connection to WhatsApp or Messenger must sign an agreement before 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 will also accept other protocols as long as they meet the same security standards, which is likely to mean 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 CEO Meredith Whittaker fears that this would jeopardize user data protection. Meta itself also described data security as a challenge, as both Meta and the connected company are jointly responsible for secure communication. However, MIMI members such as Matrix founder Matthew Hodgson are confident that data protection can also be guaranteed with interoperability.
(mack)
