WhatsApp raises minimum age in Europe to 16 ahead of data law change

WhatsApp, the popular messaging service owned by
Facebook Inc (FB.O), is raising its minimum age from 13 to 16 in
Europe to help it comply with new data privacy rules coming into
force in May.

WhatsApp will ask European users to confirm they are at least 16
years old when they are prompted to agree new terms of service and
a privacy policy provided by a new WhatsApp Ireland Ltd entity in
the next few weeks.

It is not clear how or if the age limit will be checked given
the limited data requested and held by the service.

Facebook, which has a separate data policy, is taking a
different approach to teens aged between 13 and 15 in order to
comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
law.

It is asking them to nominate a parent or guardian to give
permission for them to share information on the platform, otherwise
they will not see a fully personalised version of the social media
platform.

But WhatsApp, which had more than 1.5 billion users in January
according to Facebook, said in a blog post it was not asking for
any new rights to collect personal information in the agreement it
has created for the EU.

“Our goal is simply to explain how we use and protect the
limited information we have about you,” it said.

WhatsApp, founded in 2009, has come under pressure from some
European governments in recent years because of its end-to-end
encrypted messaging system and its plan to share more data with its
parent, Facebook.

Facebook itself is under scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers
around the world since disclosing in March that the personal
information of millions of users wrongly ended up in the hands of
political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, setting off wider
concerns about how it handles user data.

WhatsApp’s minimum age of use will remain 13 years in the rest
of the world, in line with its parent.
GDPR is the biggest overhaul of online privacy since the birth of
the internet, giving Europeans the right to know what data is
stored on them and the right to have it deleted.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and some other tech firms have said they plan
to give people in the U.S. and elsewhere the same protections and
rights that Europeans will gain.

European regulators have already disrupted a move by WhatsApp to
change its policies to allow it to share users’ phone numbers and
other information with Facebook to help improve the product and
more effectively target ads.

WhatsApp suspended the change in Europe after widespread
regulatory scrutiny.

It said on Tuesday it still wanted to share the data at some
point.

“As we have said in the past, we want to work closer with other
Facebook companies in the future and we will keep you updated as we
develop our plans,” it said.

Other changes announced by WhatsApp on Tuesday include allowing
users to download a report detailing the data it holds on them,
such as the make and model of the device they used, their contacts
and groups and any blocked numbers.

“This feature will be rolling out to all users around the world
on the newest version of the app,” it said.
The blog post also points to safety tips on the service, such as
the ability to block unwanted users, and delete and report spam.
(Reuters/NAN)

WhatsApp, the popular messaging service owned by
Facebook Inc (FB.O), is raising its minimum age from 13 to 16 in
Europe to help it comply with new data privacy rules coming into
force in May.

WhatsApp will ask European users to confirm they are at least 16
years old when they are prompted to agree new terms of service and
a privacy policy provided by a new WhatsApp Ireland Ltd entity in
the next few weeks.

It is not clear how or if the age limit will be checked given
the limited data requested and held by the service.

Facebook, which has a separate data policy, is taking a
different approach to teens aged between 13 and 15 in order to
comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
law.

It is asking them to nominate a parent or guardian to give
permission for them to share information on the platform, otherwise
they will not see a fully personalised version of the social media
platform.

But WhatsApp, which had more than 1.5 billion users in January
according to Facebook, said in a blog post it was not asking for
any new rights to collect personal information in the agreement it
has created for the EU.

“Our goal is simply to explain how we use and protect the
limited information we have about you,” it said.

WhatsApp, founded in 2009, has come under pressure from some
European governments in recent years because of its end-to-end
encrypted messaging system and its plan to share more data with its
parent, Facebook.

Facebook itself is under scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers
around the world since disclosing in March that the personal
information of millions of users wrongly ended up in the hands of
political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, setting off wider
concerns about how it handles user data.

WhatsApp’s minimum age of use will remain 13 years in the rest
of the world, in line with its parent.
GDPR is the biggest overhaul of online privacy since the birth of
the internet, giving Europeans the right to know what data is
stored on them and the right to have it deleted.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and some other tech firms have said they plan
to give people in the U.S. and elsewhere the same protections and
rights that Europeans will gain.

European regulators have already disrupted a move by WhatsApp to
change its policies to allow it to share users’ phone numbers and
other information with Facebook to help improve the product and
more effectively target ads.

WhatsApp suspended the change in Europe after widespread
regulatory scrutiny.

It said on Tuesday it still wanted to share the data at some
point.

“As we have said in the past, we want to work closer with other
Facebook companies in the future and we will keep you updated as we
develop our plans,” it said.

Other changes announced by WhatsApp on Tuesday include allowing
users to download a report detailing the data it holds on them,
such as the make and model of the device they used, their contacts
and groups and any blocked numbers.

“This feature will be rolling out to all users around the world
on the newest version of the app,” it said.
The blog post also points to safety tips on the service, such as
the ability to block unwanted users, and delete and report spam.
(Reuters/NAN)