The popular saying “one of lime and the other of sand” goes well. For several weeks we have reviewed various leaks of news that could reach WhatsApp shortly. Now it’s time to talk about the bad, because the European Union has just given an ultimatum to the messaging app after not responding to previous calls for attention. Yes, what you are thinking at the moment could happen, because WhatsApp could close in Europe after the threat from the EU .
The European Commission and the RCPC give an ultimatum to WhatsApp: respond or wait for sanctions
Through a statement, the European Union informed Meta that they have only one month to respond to the requests made to WhatsApp since the beginning of the year. A month, no more. The communication is signed by the European Commission and the Cooperation Network for Consumer Protection and is clearly an ultimatum.
According to the RCPC, the use that WhatsApp gives to the data of its users is not totally transparent. In fact, the platform is urged to declare if and how it makes money selling this data , a rather sensitive issue. In addition, the terms of use of the platform are not clear either, so the application must indicate how it intends to notify its users about future changes in its policies.
Although it may seem like it, this ultimatum from Europe does not come out of the blue . Since the beginning of the year, the EU and the RCPC have been requesting responses from WhatsApp on the issues listed above. All this, in order to put these matters in order and find out if the app can continue to operate normally on the continent (or if it must make changes).
However, Meta has turned a blind eye in this regard, responding to only part of the requests. The EU and the RCPC got tired of this happening and waiting, so they decided to let the bad cop loose. What will happen if WhatsApp does not comply with this last request? It is logical to think that the European Union would kick WhatsApp out of the continent and prohibit it from operating on it, but perhaps the first thing will be some monetary sanctions. We really don’t know what will happen, so we have to wait.
Where does the WhatsApp problem with Europe come from?
Talking about the closure of WhatsApp throughout the European Union are big words, but what is all this mess about? Why is there so much fuss around WhatsApp and the EU? As we already anticipated: use that the platform gives to our data.
Almost a year and a half ago, WhatsApp generated a huge sting among its users due to its new privacy and data use policy. Words more, words less, the problem was that Meta warned that your WhatsApp data was going to be shared with Facebook, Instagram and other platforms of this conglomerate. Besides, they were going to limit the use of the application if you did not agree to jump through hoops.
The one that was put together was such that WhatsApp had to repeatedly delay this policy, retract the penalties for not accepting it, and more. This news had such an impact that even the European Union intervened and recalled that the General Data Protection Regulation (GRPD) exists on the continent. This regulation limits the use that companies can give to user data and expressly prohibits said information from leaving the continent .
This is a huge problem for WhatsApp, because it is no secret to anyone that this company makes money precisely with the data of its users . By not being able to get that data to the United States or other countries, much of the business goes down.
In fact, the impact is such that Facebook and Instagram even hinted that they could stop working in the EU if this did not change in some way. This obviously did not happen, but now it is the EU itself that is threatening to do so.
Source | European Comission
