Whatsapp is committed to complying with EU law by improving the transparency of its terms of service and updates to allow users to understand the implications and freely decide whether they wish to continue using WhatsApp after the updates.
The breakthrough, announced on Monday 6 March by the European Commission, is the result of a dialogue launched by the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) (see EUROPE 12967/21). The initial complaint was made by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and eight of its members.
For any future updates to its policy, Whatsapp has committed: - to explain the changes it intends to make to users’ contracts and how these might affect their rights; - to include the possibility of refusing the updated terms of use - an opt-out that is as visible as the opt-in; - to ensure that notifications of updates can be rejected or that consideration of updates can be postponed; - to respect users’ choices and refrain from sending recurring notifications.
WhatsApp also confirmed that users’ personal data is not shared with third parties or other Meta companies - including Facebook - for advertising purposes. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)