WhatsApp is the quintessential messaging application. Since it was created, more than 2,000 million users throughout the globe use it daily to communicate. It is estimated that more than 100,000 million messages are sent by the app owned by Meta every day , so by simple statistics many of them are going to be illegal or at least violate the terms and conditions of service.
However, there are many behaviors that can be illegal in WhatsApp. Some of them you may even commit almost daily or have done recently. In Spain we have 31.98 million users of the application and the way we use it may violate some type of legal document. Beyond some kind of ban, you might even have to face criminal consequences.
Add someone to a group without permission
How many times have you seen that you have been added to a new group at work, in the group of friends or for an improvised plan like the party on Sundays? Well, the act itself is illegal. It turns out that this itself is illegal. When the creator of a group or one of its administrators adds a new participant, they should have their authorization beforehand.
WhatsApp groups
Why? Well, basically because by being included in a group with other people, they can see the phone number and the name assigned to it on WhatsApp. In fact, there is already jurisprudence on the matter in our country. Recently, the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) imposed a sanction on a sports club that had created a WhatsApp group and had added a former member.
Corporate WhatsApp without knowing each other
The Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT) recently sanctioned a city council for creating a WhatsApp group with citizens, despite having previously asked for their consent.
Welcome message on WhatsApp
The reason? When adding contacts to a group, there is data that is inevitably exposed – such as photo, first name, last name or mobile phone number – and this violates confidentiality because the consent can be considered valid with the creator, but not with the other people who are part of it, and that ends up being more complicated to control.
In these cases, the most appropriate option is to opt for the distribution list format, since it allows the sending of individual messages without exposing third-party data.
Forward messages or send screenshots
We are used to the tools that WhatsApp puts in our hands to share data of all kinds between contacts (location, documents, links, photos and videos, etc.) . However, there are certain limits to this as much as the tools are there.
You can share a conversation – either by forwarding a message bubble or taking a screenshot of it – if you are part of it (if not, it is a crime of discovery and disclosure of secrets) and under certain restrictions. Although data protection regulations do not affect the personal or domestic context, they do apply when data is disseminated over the internet.
chat whatsapp
The dissemination of screenshots of WhatsApp conversations, whether through groups or other social networks, makes it relatively easy to identify the participants thanks to the context information, their names in the chat or even the data exposed in the own conversation. In addition to the breach of data protection , depending on the type of conversation, the affected persons could claim compensation for damages , for a possible injury to their right to honor or privacy.
Something similar would apply in the case of works protected by copyright . Sharing any work of this type, especially if it is considered to be for profit, could violate copyright law .
Disseminate images, audios or videos without consent
A little along the same lines as the previous one, the right to privacy is combined with that of data protection. The images, both those that have been sent to us and other more static ones, such as the profile picture, belong to the person in question and cannot be used without their consent.
Respect privacy on WhatsApp
Article 197.7 of the Criminal Code includes a prison sentence of three months to one year for anyone who “disseminates, reveals or transfers images or audiovisual recordings to third parties without the permission of the affected person; that you have obtained with your consent in a home or in any other place away from the eyes of others when the disclosure of the video or photos seriously undermines the privacy of that person.
Of course, there are aggravating circumstances if the crime is committed by the victim’s spouse or partner, if the victim is a minor, has a disability or has a lucrative purpose, or if the content is of a sexual nature.
Share hoaxes and forward chains
The famous chains, alerts and all kinds of hoaxes are a constant, not only from your brother-in-law. In addition to how annoying it can be to receive this false information, you must be aware of your work in cutting their spread; forwarding these hoaxes not only contributes to spreading false information , but can also be a crime.
👁 Beware of this #hoax that circulates through #WhatsApp , it is a hoax to steal your personal data #StopBulos https://t.co/IP3pK436Ht pic.twitter.com/Tkv4i7niqE
– National Police (@policia) January 29, 2021
According to Jorge Campanillas Ciaurriz , an ICT specialist lawyer at the Iurismatica office: «It will depend on the hoax that is being spread: it can affect people and then undermine their right to honor . There are also hoaxes that incite hate crimes or put the population at risk by generating disorders, security alerts, etc.
