WhatsApp is banning teens under 16 in Europe ahead of privacy law changes
For teenagers in the European Union, WhatsApp is about to change in a big way.
The Facebook-owned messaging app is raising its age limit from 13 to 16 in Europe to meet the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law, which comes in to force on May 25.
According to the app's new Terms of Service, WhatsApp will ask users to confirm they are 16 or over when asked to agree to new terms of service and a privacy policy, which will be sent out in "the next few weeks."
If you live in a country in the European Region, you must be at least 16 years old to use our Services or such greater age required in your country to register for or use our Services. If you live in any other country except those in the European Region, you must be at least 13 years old to use our Services or such greater age required in your country to register for or use our Services. In addition to being of the minimum required age to use our Services under applicable law, if you are not old enough to have authority to agree to our Terms in your country, your parent or guardian must agree to our Terms on your behalf.
It's not currently known how WhatsApp will enforce or even verify its new age limit. Mashable reached out to WhatsApp for clarification but didn't hear back immediately.
Teenagers elsewhere in the world needn't fret: the app is said to be keeping its age limit at 13 outside the EU.
In one month, the EU will introduce strict personal data protections, which will restrict how tech companies collect and use your data. These new rules will also ensure that tech companies inform users exactly what they're getting up to.
Facebook won't be mirroring WhatsApp's new minimum age policy, though. It plans to ask under-16s to nominate a parent or guardian who can grant permission for them to share information on the app. If they don't follow this step, they won't have access to a "fully personalised" version of Facebook.
Topics Cybersecurity Privacy WhatsApp
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
