Meta has announced a feature called “third-party chats” for WhatsApp users in the European Union (EU) as a part of its compliance with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) interoperability requirements. It requires Meta to give WhatsApp users in Europe the option to connect with people using third-party messaging services whose apps are interoperable.
WhatsApp will roll out third-party chats in Europe over the coming months, allowing WhatsApp users to directly chat with users of the messaging apps BirdyChat and Haiket. Meta said its partnership with these two services is a “result of more than three years of work with European messaging services and the European Commission to build a solution to third-party chats that meets the requirements of the DMA, while preserving privacy and security for users as much as possible.”
Meta stated that this follows three core principles:
- Protecting user security and privacy: In line with DMA requirements, third-party messaging apps must use the same level of E2EE as WhatsApp.
- Clear and simple experience: We’ve provided users with a simple onboarding experience, while ensuring they understand the main differences between chats on WhatsApp and third-party chats.
- Available to European users: In line with DMA requirements, third-party chats will be available to people in the European Region.
The third-party chats feature will be available to Android and iOS users, and once it begins rolling out in the European region, users will see a notification in the Settings tab on WhatsApp explaining how to opt in to connect with others on third-party apps.
Once a WhatsApp user has opted in, they can share text, voice messages, images, videos, and files via third-party chats. Note that connecting with people on other messaging apps is optional, and the third-party chats feature can be turned on or off by WhatsApp users at any time.
Furthermore, Meta states that they developed third-party interoperability by “maintaining end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and other privacy guarantees in our services as far as possible.”
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