WhatsApp has updated its privacy policy for users in Ireland and across Europe in response to the Data Protection Commission's (DPC) findings earlier this year that it had breached data protection rules.
WhatsApp was fined €225m for the infringements, but has appealed the ruling to the High Court here and to the European Court of Justice.
As part of its decision, the DPC ordered WhatsApp to fix the issues with its privacy policy by taking a range of remedial actions.
The messaging service, owned by Facebook parent Meta, says it has now complied with these demands, with the new privacy policy taking effect from today.
The changes, which include a reorganisation of the document and the addition of more detail, only apply to European and a handful of other states.
The policy for users in the US and other large territories where WhatsApp is used remains the same.
From this morning, users will see a small and dismissible in-app banner notification which they can use to click through to see the policy.
But they won't need to agree to anything new or take any other additional action.
WhatsApp said the update has not resulted in changes to its processes or contractual agreements with users and its end-to-end encryption will continue.
It also said that users will not be required to agree to anything or to take any action in order to continue using WhatsApp.
Among the changes are that more detail has been added about the data WhatsApp collects and uses, why it is stored, when it is deleted and what services third parties provide to it.
It has also included more detail about why data is shared across borders and how that data is protected.
The revised document also outlines the legal bases used for processing of data.
In total it is 35 pages long and is made up of 12,000 words.
Meta platforms, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram continue to face ongoing scrutiny about their privacy practices as well as their commitment to online safety.
