Messaging service Whatsapp has slightly adjusted the terms of use after it was fined 225 million euros in Ireland. However, the company states that ‘the working method of our service has not changed.
According to Whatsapp, the information in the privacy statement is now “better organized” than before and “additional information” has been provided. A new approval by the users is therefore not necessary, and it sounds like.
Specifically, it concerns three things:
• The nature and use of the data collected by Whatsapp
• International sharing of data and its protection
• A section on the legal grounds on which Whatsapp is based
The company expressly points out that it does not have access to conversations and text messages. “We cannot listen to or read your personal conversations as usual because they are encrypted end-to-end. This will continue.”
In early September, the Irish regulator ruled that it was insufficient for users to know what personal data is collected and shared with the other companies of parent holding company Meta, such as Facebook and Instagram.
This includes telephone numbers of non-users, which are collected by Whatsapp through access to the address books of users of the app. In addition, the fine imposed was much higher than previously claimed because several other European regulators joined the complaint.