Millions of British teenagers banned from using WhatsApp

LONDON: WhatsApp is more than a messaging app for many. And soon after the introduction of strict European data privacy laws, the use of the app has now become age-restricted in the UK.

Users will be asked to confirm they’re 16 when they agree with a new terms of service and privacy policy.

What’s less clear is whether there’ll be any further checks – or if WhatsApp will kick off users it believes to be under 16. Under the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25, users have rights about how their data is stored and used.

GDPR is the biggest overhaul of online privacy since the birth of the internet, giving Europeans the right to know what data is stored on them and the right to have it deleted.

WhatsApp, which had more than 1.5 billion users in January, said in a blog post, ‘Our goal is simply to explain how we use and protect the limited information we have about you.’

WhatsApp, founded in 2009, has come under pressure from some European governments in recent years because of its end-to-end encrypted messaging system and its plan to share more data with its parent, Facebook.