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WhatsApp to raise minimum age limit to 16 in EU
Popular messaging service WhatsApp is banning(禁止) under-16s(16岁以下的人) from using its platform in the European Union.
Users must currently be at least 13, but the firm is changing the rules ahead of the introduction of new EU data privacy regulations in May.
The app, which is owned by Facebook, will ask users to confirm their age when prompted to agree new terms of service(服务条款) in the next few weeks.
It has not said how the age limit will be enforced(生效/执行).
At present(目前), WhatsApp does not ask users their age when they join, nor does it cross-reference(相互参考/交叉对照) their Facebook or Instagram accounts(账户) to find out.
About a third of all UK-based 12- to 15-year-olds active on social media use WhatsApp, according to a 2017 report by the media regulator Ofcom.
That made it the fifth most popular social network with the age group after Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.
The chief executive of Childnet International - a charity(慈善机构)that is a member of Facebook's Safety Advisory Board - said he thought the firm had more work to do to communicate the change.
Will Gardner added that the parents and carers(看护人) of 13-15 year olds had been put in a "difficult position" by the raised age limit(年龄限制).
Data privacy
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May, will give people much more control over how companies use their information.
It also includes specific(具体的) rules to protect youngsters whose personal data is processed in order to provide them with online services.
Such websites and apps are obliged to(有义务) "make reasonable efforts to verify(核实)" that a parent or guardian(监护人) has given consent(允许) for their child's data to be handled.
The law says this obligation(义务) applies to(适用于) under-16s, although some countries - including the UK - have been allowed to set the cut-off limit(分水岭) lower, at 13.
WhatsApp, which has faced scrutiny(接受审查) for its data sharing practices in the past, said its move would help it meet the "new high standards of transparency(透明度)" in the EU.
Effectively, it saves it the trouble of having to seek consent in those countries enforcing the 16-years-old age limit.
However, the app plans to keep its age limit at 13 in the rest of the world.
Most social media apps(社交软件) - including Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Musical.ly and Reddit - are restricted to(局限于) those aged 13 and over.
This is in part because(这部分是因为) a US law - the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (Coppa) - bans online services from collecting personal information about younger children.
Facebook did, however, launch(推出) Messenger Kids, which is targeted at(针对) children as young as six, last December. It is an ad-free(去广告的) service designed to be compliant(遵守) with Coppa.
Different approach
WhatsApp will also be allowing all users to download a report detailing the data it holds on them as part of its new terms of service.
That could include the make and model of the device they use, their contacts and groups and any blocked numbers.
Facebook, which has also been criticised for its handling of personal data, is taking a different approach to younger users on its main service.
To comply with(遵守) GDPR, the social network(社交媒体) is asking those aged 13 to 15 to nominate(提名) a parent or guardian to give permission(允许) for them to share information on the platform.
If they do not, they will not see a fully personalised(个性化的) version of the platform.
In a related development, Facebook's Instagram service has also launched a "data download" tool that provides a file(档案) containing the photos, comments, archived Stories(收藏的故事), contacts and other personal data a user had posted to the service in the past.
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