Last January WhatsApp updated its terms of use, something that was not without controversy. So much so that it had to delay its entry into force until May 15 to try to explain exactly what was going to happen. Now the company has published a entry on your website in which he states that If we do not accept the new WhatsApp conditions, we will have limited access to the app. According to WhatsApp, “for a short period, you will be able to receive calls and notifications, but you will not be able to read or send messages from the application.”
In the new terms of use and privacy policy, WhatsApp states that it will allow Facebook to share and use the data obtained from WhatsApp for the rest of its services and purposes. Now, you have to keep one very important thing in mind: This does not apply to the countries of the European Union thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, since this prevents Facebook from sharing WhatsApp data with the rest of the company’s companies. It can be confusing, so let’s go in parts.
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WhatsApp policy changes
In the European Union, WhatsApp provides service through WhatsApp Ireland Limited, while in other countries it does so through WhatsApp LLC. This, in a nutshell, means that WhatsApp operates in the European Union through a separate company that is governed by the rules of the European Union. In fact, here are the Terms of Service Y Privacy for the countries of the European Union, protected by the GDPR, and here the same Terms of Service Y Privacy for non-European Union countries.
As you can see, in the section “How we work together with other Facebook companies” the text is different. In fact, in the “Security and privacy” section, WhatsApp states that: “We do not share data to improve Facebook products on the platform nor to offer more relevant ads on Facebook. “According to WhatsApp:
“Currently, Facebook does not use the information in your WhatsApp account to improve experiences with Facebook products or provide you with more relevant ads on the platform.. This is the result of discussions with the Irish Data Protection Commission and other data protection authorities in Europe. We are constantly developing new ways to improve your experience with WhatsApp and the other products of the Facebook companies you use. Should we decide to share data with Facebook companies for this purpose in the future, we will only do so when we reach an agreement with the Irish Data Protection Commission regarding a future mechanism to allow us such use. We will keep you up to date with the new experiences that we present and our information practices “- The bold are own.
What’s more, a company spokesperson told Xataka at the time that “there are no changes in WhatsApp’s data exchange practices in the European region (including the United Kingdom) arising from the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. updated privacy “and that” it is still true that WhatsApp does not share WhatsApp user data from the Europe region with Facebook in order for Facebook to use this data to improve its products or advertisements. “
If we now take a look at the global privacy policy, we will see that outside the European Union Facebook can use WhatsApp data to personalize content. According to the global privacy policy, you may use the data to:
“Improve their services and your experiences using them, such as making suggestions for you (for example, from friends or group connections or interesting content), personalizing features and content, helping you complete purchases and transactions, and showing you relevant advertising and offers to through the products of Facebook companies. “
So nothing changes?
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Almost. If we are in the European Union, WhatsApp cannot share the data with Facebook. Although WhatsApp has sent us notices of the changes in the terms, it does not mean that we will share more data with Facebook since we are behind the GDPR shield. In short, in the European Union everything continues as before. There are no changes when it comes to messages with other users
Acceptance of the new terms and conditions of use is a mere procedure to continue using the application, but quoting WhatsApp verbatim, “your acceptance of the new terms of service does not extend WhatsApp’s ability to share user data with Facebook, its parent company“.
In the European Union, WhatsApp does not share data with Facebook
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And what changes? Messages with companies. WhatsApp allows you to communicate with companies, whose profiles are duly marked in the application. For example, airlines, online stores, etc., that use the Facebook secure web hosting services. If we contact a company that uses such services, the company “may see the information that you are sharing and use it for its own marketing purposes, which could include the use of advertising on Facebook.”
On the other hand, we may see an ad for a company on Facebook with a button that allows you to send it a message on WhatsApp. “If you have WhatsApp installed on your phone, you will have the option of sending messages to that company. Facebook will be able to use the information on how you interact with those ads to personalize the ads you see on Facebook,” they explain from the company. But nothing else. This is all.
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Otherwise, neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see personal messages (which are end-to-end encrypted) nor listen to the calls. They also don’t keep track of who we call or chat with and they can’t see the locations. Nor are contacts shared with Facebook or with the other apps that Facebook offers. Another issue is the metadata that WhatsApp does collect, which you can see details here.
What if I don’t want to accept the new terms?
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Acceptance of the terms and conditions is imperative to continue using WhatsApp. That is what we will have to do before May 15 (although they can be accepted after that date) and, as we have seen, it does not have a significant impact on the way we use WhatsApp in the European Union. If we do not want to accept them, we can download the information from our account and delete it, but if we want to continue using the app we will have to accept them.
What if we don’t? Then WhatsApp will limit the functions of the application. If we do not accept the terms, for a short period of time we may receive calls and notifications, but not read or send messages from the application. What’s more, the inactive accounts policy of WhatsApp will be activated, which understands that an account is inactive when it has no activity for 120 days. If we don’t agree to the terms, our account will eventually be deleted.
Ultimately, the acceptance of the new terms of service is one more procedure that we must complete to continue using WhatsApp, but accepting them does not imply that WhatsApp can share more data with Facebook because, as we have seen throughout this article, in the European Union we are protected by the General Data Protection Regulation.
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