Last modified: January 4, 2021 (archived versions)
WhatsApp Terms of Service
Index
Information about our Services
Privacy Policy and User Data
Acceptable Use of Our Services
Third Party Services
Licenses
Reporting infringements of copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights
Liability Disclaimers and Exemptions
Limitation of Liability
Dispute Resolution
Availability and interruption of services
Other provisions
Consultation of the terms of WhatsApp in different languages
If you are not a resident of the European Region, WhatsApp is provided by WhatsApp LLC under these Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy.
Click here for the Summary of the contract with WhatsApp and for the information we are required to provide under the European Electronic Communications Code.
To provide our Services (as described below) through the apps, services, functions, software or website, we must obtain the user's acceptance of the Terms of Service ("Terms").
WhatsApp Ireland Limited ("WhatsApp", "our / and / s", "we" or "us") provides the services described below to you ("Services"), in cases where you reside in a country or territory within the European Economic Area (which includes the European Union) and other countries or territories included (collectively, the "European Region").
If you reside in another country or territory other than the European Region, WhatsApp LLC provides the Services to you under the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
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Information about our Services
Principles of privacy and security.
Ever since we created WhatsApp, we have built our services with the strictest principles in mind when it comes to security and privacy.
Connect with other users.
We offer our users, and are committed to constantly improving, useful tools for communicating with other WhatsApp users such as messages, calls and video calls, sending images and videos, viewing the status and sharing the position with others if the user does. want.
WhatsApp works with partners, service providers and affiliates to offer users ways to connect with their services.
Communication with companies.
We offer, and are committed to continually improving, tools to enable users, businesses and other organizations to communicate using our Services, for example through order, transaction and appointment information, delivery and shipment notifications, product updates. and services and marketing.
We offer specific features and services to businesses and other organizations, such as statistics relating to their use of our Services.
Protection, security and integrity.
We are committed to protecting the safety, security and integrity of our Services.
This includes taking appropriate action against users and activities that violate our Terms.
We undertake to prohibit improper use of our Services, including any harmful conduct towards other people.
If we become aware of the presence of such businesses or people, we take appropriate measures by removing those businesses or people or by contacting law enforcement.
The removal of such users takes place in accordance with the "Withdrawal and termination" section below.
Enabling access to our Services.
To operate our global Services, we must store and distribute content and information in our data centers and systems around the world, including outside your country of residence.
The use of this global infrastructure is necessary and essential to offer our Services.
This infrastructure may be owned by our service providers, including affiliated companies, or managed by them.
NO ACCESS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES: there are significant differences between WhatsApp services and landline, mobile and SMS messaging services.
Our Services do not allow you to make emergency calls or access emergency services such as the police, firefighters or hospitals or, in any case, to connect in any other way to single emergency centers.
The user must ensure that he can contact the relevant emergency services by mobile or landline phone or other type of service.
Registration.
To register for our Services, you must use correct information, provide your current mobile phone number, and if you change it, update it using the number change function within the app.
You agree to receive codes to sign up for our Services via text messages and calls (from us or from third party providers).
Address book.
You can use the contact upload function and provide us, in accordance with applicable law, with the telephone numbers in your mobile phone book, including those of users of our Services and other contacts.
You can find more information about the contact upload feature here.
Age.
If you reside in a country or territory of the European Region, you must be at least 16 years old to use our Services (or the higher age required in your country or territory to register or use our Services without the approval of the parents).
If you reside in any other country or territory other than the European Region, you must be at least 13 years old to use our Services (or the older age required in your country or territory to be authorized to register and use our Services. ).
In addition to being the minimum age required to use our Services under applicable laws, where you are not of the required age to accept the Terms in your country or territory, your parent or guardian must accept them on his behalf to allow him to use the Services.
You are encouraged to read these Terms with your parent or guardian.
Devices and software.
You must procure certain devices, software and data connections to use our Services, which we cannot otherwise provide.
To use our Services, you agree to download and install updates to our Services manually or automatically.
You also authorize us to periodically send you notifications through our Services, if necessary to provide our Services.
Costs and taxes.
You are responsible for your carrier's data plan, Internet costs, and additional costs and taxes associated with your use of our Services.
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Privacy Policy and User Data
User privacy is important for WhatsApp.
The WhatsApp Privacy Policy describes our procedures relating to data (including messages), including the types of information we receive and collect from you, how we use and share that information, and your rights in relation to the processing of their information.
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Acceptable Use of Our Services
Terms and information.
You must use our Services in accordance with our Terms and policies.
If you violate our Terms or policies, we may take steps related to your account, including deactivating or suspending your account; in these cases, you agree not to create another account without our permission.
Disabling or removal takes place in accordance with the "Withdrawal and termination" section below.
Legal and acceptable use.
You must access our Services and use them only for legal, authorized and acceptable purposes.
You agree not to use (or assist third parties in using) our Services in ways that: (a) violate, misappropriate or disrespect the rights of WhatsApp, our users or third parties, therein including privacy, "publicity" (personality rights), intellectual property or other industrial property rights; (b) are illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, intimidating, annoying, threatening, offensive to a race or ethnicity or promote or encourage illegal or otherwise inappropriate behavior, such as promoting violent crime, endangering o exploit minors or others or the coordination of harmful acts; (c) involve the posting of false or misleading content or misleading claims; (d) exploit the identity of another person; (e) involve sending illegal or prohibited communications such as bulk messages, automated messages, calls from automated systems or the like; (f) involve non-personal use of our Services, except as expressly provided by us.
Damage to WhatsApp or users.
You must not (and must not assist third parties to), directly, indirectly, by automated means or in any other way, access, use, copy, adapt, modify, create derivative works, distribute, license or sub-license, transfer , display, perform or otherwise exploit our Services in a manner that is not permitted or unauthorized or that damages, compromises or harms us or our Services, our systems, users or third parties.
This includes the prohibition for the user, directly or through automatic means, to: (a) reconstruct, alter, modify, create derivative works, decompile or derive the code from our Services; (b) send, store or transmit viruses or other harmful computer code through or within our Services; (c) obtain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to our Services or systems; (d) adversely affect the protection, security, confidentiality, integrity, availability or performance of our Services; (e) create accounts for our Services through unauthorized or automated means; (f) collect information from our users or related to them in an unauthorized or unauthorized manner; (g) sell, resell, rent or charge for our Services or for data received from us in an unauthorized manner; (h) distribute or make our Services available through a network that allows their simultaneous use by multiple devices, except in cases where it is authorized through tools expressly provided by us through our Services; (i) create software or APIs that function basically in the same way as our Services and offer them for use by third parties in an unauthorized manner; (j) misuse the reporting channels, for example by sending unfounded or fraudulent reports or complaints.
Keep your account safe.
You are responsible for the security of your device and your WhatsApp account and are required to promptly notify us of any unauthorized use or breach of the security of your account or our Services.
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Third Party Services
Our Services may allow the user to access, use or interact with websites, apps, content, other third party products and services and products offered by Meta companies.
For example, the user can choose to use third-party backup services (such as iCloud or Google Drive) integrated with our Services or interact with a share button on a third-party website that allows you to send information to your WhatsApp contacts.
These Terms and the Privacy Policy apply only to the use of our Services.
In case of use of third party products or services or other products of a Meta company, the respective terms and privacy policies governing their use apply.
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Licenses
User rights.
WhatsApp does not claim ownership of information submitted by you in connection with your WhatsApp account or through our Services.
You must have the necessary rights to the information you submit in connection with your WhatsApp account or through our Services, as well as the right to grant it use and license under our Terms.
WhatsApp rights.
WhatsApp owns all copyrights, trademarks, domains, logos, trademarks, trade secrets, patents and other intellectual property rights associated with its Services.
You may not use our copyrights, trademarks (or any similar trademarks), domains, logos, trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights unless you have our express permission in accordance with our Trademark Guidelines.
You may use the trademarks of our affiliates only with their permission and in accordance with the provisions contained in the published trademark guidelines.
User license to WhatsApp.
In order to enable us to make available and provide our Services, you grant WhatsApp a global, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensed and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works, view and exhibit information (including content) that you upload, send, store or receive on or through our Services.
The rights granted in this license are intended solely to make available and provide our Services (for example in order to show your profile picture and status message, broadcast messages, and store undelivered messages on our servers for a period maximum of 30 days, during which we will try to deliver them).
License from WhatsApp.
WhatsApp grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sub-licensable or transferable license to use our Services and in accordance with our Terms.
This license is for the sole purpose of allowing you to use our Services in the manner permitted by our Terms.
No license or right is granted here, except as expressly provided herein.
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Reporting infringements of copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights
To report infringements of copyrights, trademarks and other types of intellectual property, we encourage you to consult our Intellectual Property Policy.
If you are clearly, severely or repeatedly infringing the intellectual property rights of others, or in cases where we are required by law to do so, we may take action regarding your account, including deactivating or suspending your account. same.
Disabling or removal takes place in accordance with the "Withdrawal and termination" section below.
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Liability Disclaimers and Exemptions
Use of the Services is at your own risk and is subject to the following disclaimers.
Our Services are provided as they are, without express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, warranties relating to merchantability, fitness for a specific purpose, ownership or non-infringement of third party rights, and the absence of viruses. or other malicious computer code.
We make no warranties as to the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of the information, the operation, lack of errors, the safety or security of our Services, or the operation of our Services without interruption, delay or defects.
We do not have control and are not responsible for controlling how or when the Services are used or the functions, services and interfaces provided by our Services.
We are not responsible for and have no obligation to control the actions or information (including content) of our users or other third parties.
You release us, our subsidiaries and affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, partners and agents (collectively, the "WhatsApp Parties") from any and all claims, recourses, lawsuits, disputes, litigation or damages (collectively, the "Complaints"), known and unknown, relating to, deriving from or connected in any way to Complaints that the user may have against third parties.
Your rights relating to the Parts of WhatsApp are not modified by these disclaimers if the laws in force in the country or territory in which you reside, applicable as a result of the use of our Services, do not allow it.
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Limitation of Liability
WhatsApp is only liable to the following extent:
WhatsApp is liable without limitation according to the statutory provisions for damages resulting from fatal, physical or health injuries, in the event of willful misconduct, gross negligence and in accordance with the Producer Liability Directive.
WhatsApp provides the Services to you according to professional diligence.
Provided that it has acted with professional diligence, WhatsApp declines all responsibility for losses not caused by the violation of these Terms or in any case by its actions, losses not reasonably foreseeable by the user and by WhatsApp at the time of signing these Terms and events outside reasonable control of WhatsApp.
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Dispute Resolution
If you are a consumer who habitually resides in a country or territory within the European Region, the laws in force in that country or territory apply to any User Complaint against us arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services.
Such Complaints can be resolved before any competent court in the country or territory that enjoys the jurisdiction relating to the Complaint.
In all other cases, you agree that the Complaint will be resolved before a competent court in Ireland that has jurisdiction over it, and that Irish law governs these Terms and any Complaints, regardless of the conflict-of-law provisions. .
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Availability and interruption of services
Availability of our Services.
We are always trying to improve our Services.
This means that we may expand, add or remove our Services, features, functionality and support for certain devices and platforms.
Our Services may be interrupted, including in the event of maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or network or equipment problems.
We may discontinue all or part of our Services, including particular features and support for certain devices and platforms, at any time after 30 days' notice.
This notice is not required in case of urgent situations, such as the prevention of improper use, compliance with legal requirements or the resolution of operational or safety problems.
Our Services may be affected by events beyond our control, such as natural disasters and other force majeure events.
Withdrawal and termination.
While we hope this will not happen, the WhatsApp user can terminate the relationship with WhatsApp at any time and for any reason by deleting their account.
For instructions on how to do this, visit our Help Center articles for Android, iPhone or KaiOS.
Our right of termination for just cause remains unaffected.
Just cause is assumed if a party violates the laws, rights of third parties, or otherwise fails to comply with these Terms and it is not reasonably plausible that the terminating party will continue the contractual relationship until the agreed termination date or expiry of the notice period, considering all the circumstances of the individual case and after weighing the interests of both parties.
Termination for just cause is only enforceable within a reasonable period of time from the time the party becomes aware of the infringement.
If the important reason is a breach of an obligation under the Terms, termination is permissible only after the unsuccessful expiration of a given remedy period or unsuccessful notice.
However, this does not apply if the infringing party seriously and definitively refuses to perform its obligations or if, after weighing the interests of both parties, special circumstances warrant immediate termination.
Under the "Withdrawal and Termination" section, we may also modify, suspend or terminate your access to and use of our Services at any time for suspicious or illegal conduct, including cases of fraud, or if we reasonably believe that the you violate our Terms or create harm, risk or legal liability for us, our users or others.
We may also disable or delete your account if it is not activated after your registration or if it remains inactive for an extended period of time.
If the user deletes his account or if it is deleted or disabled by us, these Terms cease to have validity as a contract between the user and WhatsApp, but the following provisions continue to apply in the event of termination of the relationship between the user and WhatsApp. "
Licenses "," Disclaimer and Disclaimer "," Limitation of Liability "," Dispute Resolution "," Availability and Discontinuation of Services "," Other Provisions ".
If you believe that your account has been suspended or deactivated in error, you can contact us at support@support.whatsapp.com.
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Other provisions
Unless otherwise stipulated in an agreement entered into between you and WhatsApp, our Terms represent the entire agreement regarding WhatsApp and our Services and supersede any previous agreements.
WhatsApp reserves the right to establish in the future that some of its Services are governed by separate terms (which, where possible, the user may accept separately).
Our Services are not intended for distribution or use in any country or territory where such distribution or use is contrary to local law or may subject us to compliance with the laws of other countries or territories.
WhatsApp reserves the right to limit its Services in any country or territory.
You agree to comply with all applicable laws relating to export control and trade sanctions issued by the United States and other countries ("Export Laws").
You must not, directly or indirectly, export, re-export, provide or otherwise transfer our Services: (a) to individuals, legal entities, territories or countries prohibited under Export Laws; (b) to anyone on the US or other country's restricted party list; (c) for purposes prohibited by Export Laws, including applications related to nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or related to missile technology without the necessary government clearances.
You agree that you will not use or download our Services if you are located in a restricted country or territory, if you are currently on the US or other country's restricted party list or for purposes prohibited by Export Laws.
You also agree not to use IP proxies or other methods to spoof your location.
Any modification or waiver of these Terms proposed by you requires our explicit consent.
We are constantly working to optimize our Services and to develop new features that can improve our products for you and for our community.
Therefore, we may need to periodically update these Terms to accurately indicate our Services and practices.
We will only make changes if the provisions are no longer adequate or complete.
Unless otherwise required by law, we will notify you at least 30 days in advance of changes to the Terms (e.g.,
by email or through the Services), in order to allow the user to consult the updated Terms before they come into force.
Furthermore, we will make sure that the changes are reasonable for you, taking into account your interests.
We will also update the "Last Modified" date at the top of the Terms.
Changes to these Terms will become effective no earlier than 30 days after you notify us of the planned changes.
Once all updated Terms are in effect, you will need to abide by them if you continue to use our Services.
We hope that you continue to use our Services, however, if you do not accept our Terms as amended, you are required to stop using them by deleting your account.
All of our rights and obligations specified in these Terms may be freely transferred by us to our affiliated companies in the event of a merger, acquisition, restructuring or sale of assets or legally required succession or other transaction.
In the event of such an assignment, we will only transfer your information in accordance with applicable laws and ask for your consent, where required.
These Terms will continue to govern the relationship between you and such third parties.
We hope that the user continues to use WhatsApp, however, if he does not accept this transfer, the user is required to stop using the Services, deleting his account once informed of the transfer.
You agree not to transfer any rights or obligations specified in these Terms without our prior written consent.
None of the provisions of these Terms may preclude us from complying with the law.
Without prejudice to the provisions contained therein, the Terms do not constitute any right in favor of third party beneficiaries.
Failure to enforce any part of these Terms does not in any way constitute a waiver.
Should any provision of these Terms be deemed illegal, void or unenforceable for any reason, such provision will be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to enable it to apply.
If that provision cannot be made enforceable, it will then be considered separate from our Terms and will in no way affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions of our Terms and the remainder of our Terms will remain in full force.
We reserve all rights not expressly granted.
In some jurisdictions, you may have statutory rights as a consumer, and the Terms are not intended to limit such statutory consumer rights which may not be contractually waivable.
Furthermore, in some jurisdictions, the user may have legal rights as an interested party in the context of the processing of personal data: our Terms are not intended to limit these legal rights, which may not be derogated from the contract.
Feedback or other suggestions related to WhatsApp and our Services are always welcome.
However, you acknowledge that you are under no obligation to provide feedback or suggestions and that we may use such feedback or suggestions without any limit or obligation to remunerate you.
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Consultation of the terms of WhatsApp in different languages
To consult the WhatsApp Terms in another language, you need to change the relevant WhatsApp session settings.
If the Terms are not available in the selected language, they will be displayed in English by default.
More information on the use of the Services is available in the following documents:
WhatsApp Privacy Policy
WhatsApp Intellectual Property Policy
WhatsApp brand guidelines
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