New EU rules look set to change how WhatsApp makes money from your data
Companies like Facebook and Microsoft are expected to operate under new confidentiality rules.
THE EU IS looking to assert more control over internet services like WhatsApp and Skype, it has been claimed.
New regulations set to be introduced by the European Commission in September are expected to drastically change the telecoms sector, such as achieving internet speeds of 100 megabits per second across the EU by 2025.
According to a report in the Financial Times, as part of the overhaul so-called ‘over the top’ services will have to abide by “security and confidentiality provisions” set by the EU.
Over-the-top services deliver film and TV content via the internet from providers other than the customer’s network operator. Examples include WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, Skype, which is run by Microsoft, Netflix and iTunes.
According to internal documents seen by the Financial Times, the changes to the sector will be provisionally announced in September before being laid out in greater detail in a separate review of the EU’s “ePrivacy” law later this year.
Monetisation
The rules will likely change how services like WhatsApp deal with requests for information from security agencies or how they can make money from their customer’s data.
Officials from the EU Commission said that over-the-top-services should be regulated in similar ways to the popular messaging services that they are rapidly overhauling, such as SMS text messaging.
The changes will replace the EU’s 2002 “e-privacy directive”. Large European telecoms companies have complained for years that these services are not regulated heavily enough.
The 2002 rules had placed severe restrictions on what telecoms firms can do with the large amount of data that they collect from their customers.
Different strokes
These companies have complained of unfair treatment, pointing out that services not regulated under the old rules, such as over the top services, can make money from that information more easily.
Once the Commission makes its recommendations, the European Parliament will then enter into negotiations with EU member states to discuss the best ways to implement the recommendations.
An important point is that the influence of the UK, which has long opposed tight restrictions on the online operators, is likely to be diminished in the wake of the Brexit vote.
