WhatsApp agrees to fully comply with EU rules

Following dialogue with EU consumer protection agencies and the European Commission (CPC network), WhatsApp has promised to provide more transparency about changes to the terms of service. In addition, the company will make it easier for users to reject accepted updates and will also clearly explain if such rejection means that users can no longer use the WhatsApp service. In addition, WhatsApp has confirmed that it will not share users’ personal data with third parties or other meta-companies (including Facebook) for advertising purposes. The dialogue was coordinated and facilitated by the Swedish Consumer Protection Authority and the Irish Competition and Consumer Commission.

Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders commented: “I welcome WhatsApp’s commitment to change its practices to comply with EU rules, to inform users about any changes to contracts and to respect their preferences, rather than asking them every time they open the app. Consumers have a right to know”. what exactly they agree to and what it means so they can decide whether to continue using the platform“.

The CPC Network first sent a letter to WhatsApp in January 2022, following an alert by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and eight of its member associations on alleged unfair practices in the context of WhatsApp’s updates to their terms of service and privacy policy. In June 2022, the CPC Network sent a second letter to WhatsApp reiterating their request that consumers must be clearly informed about WhatsApp’s business model and, in particular, whether WhatsApp derives revenues from commercial policies relating to users’ personal data. Following discussions among the CPC Network, the Commission and WhatsApp, the company confirmed that it does not share users’ personal data for advertising purposes.

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For any future policy updates, WhatsApp will:

•  explain what changes it intends to make to the users’ contracts and how they could affect their rights;
• include the possibility to reject updated terms of service as prominently as the possibility to accept them;
• ensure that the notifications informing about the updates can be dismissed or the review of the updates can be delayed, as well as respect users’ choices and refrain from sending recurring notifications.

Next steps

The Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) will actively monitor how WhatsApp implements these commitments when making any future updates to its policies and, where necessary, enforce compliance – including by the possibility of imposing fines.

Moreover, a recent Commission study and the last CPC sweep on “dark patterns” showed that many companies use “dark patterns”, for example making it more difficult to unsubscribe from a service than to subscribe to it. The CPC Network, with the support of   the Commission, will continue to intensify their efforts to addres such illegal practices where they occur.

Background

The new Digital Services Act foresees i.a. an obligation for services to have clear terms and conditions, explaining to the user in comprehensible language when their content or their account can be affected by certain restrictions, and an obligation to apply such restrictions in a diligent, objective and proportionate manner. The DSA will complement rules such as the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive or the General Data Protection Regulation, ensuring that no regulatory gap is left for platforms to manipulate users.

The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) is a network of authorities responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. To tackle cross-border issues, their actions are coordinated at EU level.

National authorities are responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. Thanks to the  Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, they  have a common toolbox of strong powers to detect irregularities and take speedy and coordinated action against non-compliant traders.

Moreover, the new Directive on better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rules, amended existing EU consumer law instruments by further enhancing transparency for consumers when they buy on online marketplaces.

Cooperation applies to consumer rules covering various areas such as unfair commercial practices, e-commerce, geo-blocking, package holidays, online selling, and passenger rights.

More information

European Commission