The massively popular messaging app WhatsApp has announced that from 25 May it is raising the minimum age for users to 16 but only in the European Union. It’s a remarkable ambition, one that every government and online service around the world will be amazed by if it actually succeeds. You know “on the internet, nobody knows you’re a Cat”? Nobody knows how old (or young) a cat you are, either.
It is not clear how or if the age limit will be checked given the limited data requested and held by WhatsApp.
The instant messaging app, which is owned by Facebook and has about 1.5bn users around the world, said the move was in response to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which will govern how companies manage consumer information.
The regulation includes rules to protect children from having their personal data collected for marketing purposes, or to create user profiles
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.
WhatsApp’s minimum age of use will remain 13 years in the rest of the world, in line with its parent.
