Oscar Gutiérrez/CNET
You may need to wait a while if you’re a teenager and looking to message your friends on Whatsapp in Europe.
That’s because the Messaging service is raising its age limit to 16 from 13 in the region due to new EU data privacy rules. The move will see users having to confirm their age when the company rolls out its new terms of service, the company said in a blog post. It comes about even as France is planning to build its own non-WhatsApp messaging service.
The service also confirmed that it will not be sharing account information with Facebook, and that it will take a more active approach in blocking spam or abusive content across both Facebook and WhatsApp. There will also be an option to download and view the data that the company collects on you, and will be rolled out across the world, and isn’t just limited to Europe.
The Facebook-owned messaging service is very popular globally, with more than 1.5 billion monthly active users. While its parent company has been hit with data breach issues, WhatsApp has remained relatively scandal free so far, as messages sent on its servers are secured with end-to-end encryption, preventing malicious users from listening in to a conversation.
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The post You will soon have to be 16 in Europe to use WhatsApp appeared first on News Doses.