European Union: Announced WhatsApp agreement to be more transparent on changes to its terms of service and privacy policy

On 6 March 2023, the European Commission announced that WhatsApp agreed to fully comply with EU rules by being more transparent on changes to its terms of service and privacy policy. This agreement follows the complaint filed in 2021 by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) before the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC), alleging that WhatsApp forces users to accept its new terms of use and privacy policy. In particular, WhatsApp has committed to clearly explaining to users the changes it intends to make to contracts and how they could affect their rights, to prominently display the possibility of rejecting updated terms of service, to ensure that the notifications informing about the updates can be dismissed, or the review of the updates can be delayed, and to refrain from sending recurring notifications. Finally, WhatsApp confirmed that personal data is not shared with Meta or other third parties for advertising purposes. The CPC will monitor the implementation of these commitments and impose penalties in case of non-compliance.