The European Commission's Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires WhatsApp (and Messenger) to offer interoperability with other messaging platforms in the European Union (EU). In simpler terms, it requires WhatsApp to allow people to send and receive messages from other messaging services in the region, such as Signal or Telegram.
WhatsApp will now receive messages from other services
According to a new report from WABetaInfo, the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (v2.23.19.8) includes “third-party chats” to comply with these regulations (to allow people to chat with individuals on other platforms). Meanwhile, the publication also published a screenshot of the functionality, which reveals some interesting (and worrying) things.
The new version of the application presents third-party chats to people, informing them about them and asking them if they want to activate the functionality. The first point on the welcome screen says that activating conversations with third parties allows you to send messages to “someone outside of WhatsApp”. Also that “third-party applications may use end-to-end encryption differently”.
What seems worrying is the second point, which says “Spam and fraud may be more common in third-party chats.” This means that enabling third-party chats may introduce more spam. This is because people on any platform will be able to send you messages. As such, it can increase the chances of being the target of a scam. The third point is equally worrying. It says: “Third-party apps have their own policies. They may treat your data differently than WhatsApp.” This means that these applications can misuse your data, which can be a threat to your privacy.
Fortunately, you can decide not to use this function. However, if you enable it, WhatsApp will show conversations from other platforms in a separate section, making it easier to distinguish between conversations from WhatsApp users and conversations from users on other platforms. It is worth mentioning that this functionality will only be available in the European region. We hope to get more details on the feature once people start using it.