WhatsApp’s third-party chat support could amplify spam risk

The European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) says that WhatsApp (and Messenger) have to let people use other messaging apps in the European Union (EU). In other words, WhatsApp has to let you send and get messages from people who use other apps like Signal or Telegram in the EU.

A new report from WABetaInfo says that the newest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (v2.23.19.8) has a feature called ‘third-party chats’ to follow those rules (so you can chat with people on other platforms). They also posted a screenshot of the feature, which shows some interesting (and worrying) stuff about it.

The new version of the app tells people about third-party chats and asks if they want to turn it on. The first thing on the welcome screen says that turning on third-party chats lets you message “someone outside of WhatsApp” and that “third-party apps may use different end-to-end encryption.”

The second point is a bit worrying. It says that “Spam and scams may be more common on third-party chats.” This means that if you turn on third-party chats, you might get more spam because people from any platform can message you. That could make you more likely to be a target for a scam.

The third point is also worrying. It says, “Third-party apps have their own policies. They may handle your data differently than WhatsApp does.” This means that these apps could use your data in a way that’s not good for your privacy.

Luckily, you can choose not to use this feature. But if you do turn it on, WhatsApp will show chats from other platforms in a different section, so you can tell which chats are from WhatsApp users and which are from people on other platforms. It’s important to note that this feature will only be available in Europe. We’ll probably learn more about it once people start using it.