WhatsApp Changes Their Privacy Policy After EU Fine

WhatsApp is rewriting its privacy policy as a result of a huge data protection fine earlier this year.

Following an investigation, the Irish data protection watchdog issued a €225m (£190m) fine, the second-largest in history over GDPR  and ordered WhatsApp to change its policies, reported the BBC.

WhatsApp is appealing against the fine, but is amending its policy documents in Europe and the UK to comply.

However, it insists that nothing about its actual service is changing. Instead, the tweaks are designed to “add additional detail around our existing practices”, and will only appear in the European version of the privacy policy, which is already different from the version that applies in the rest of the world.

“There are no changes to our processes or contractual agreements with users, and users will not be required to agree to anything or to take any action in order to continue using WhatsApp,” the company said, announcing the change.

The new policy takes effect immediately. In January, WhatsApp users complained about an update to the company’s terms that many believed would result in data being shared with parent company Facebook, which is now called Meta.

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.