WhatsApp sets a date for the arrival of ads on its platform.

WhatsApp has informed the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) that the ads planned for the social network's statuses and channels will not be rolled out to European users until 2026.

The Meta-owned social messaging network announced this Monday that it will begin introducing ads in statuses and channels, with the aim of fostering easy conversations between users and companies about their products or services.

The company also specified that this feature has been developed "in the most private way possible" and that, to display ads on statuses or channels, it would use "limited information" about the user, such as country, language, the channels they follow, and how they interact with them.

However, WhatsApp has now clarified that its plans to introduce ads will not be implemented in the European Union until 2026, in an effort to address concerns about user data protection before its implementation.

This has been communicated by Meta to the Irish Data Protection Commission, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and has been reported by Politico, which has clarified that, according to the commissioner responsible for the DPC, Des Hogan , the new product "will not be launched on the EU market until 2026" and that both organizations will meet to "address any issues in more detail."

Specifically, the DPC has indicated that the advertising model that WhatsApp intends to implement will be analyzed and reviewed by other data protection authorities so that "any concerns as European regulators" can be subsequently addressed in discussions with Meta.

A WhatsApp spokesperson confirmed that, despite this delay in the EU, the announcements have been launched as a "global update" and will be gradually rolled out to all users.

However, it should be noted that, in addition to analyzing user behavior with ads on the social network's channels, if you have chosen to add WhatsApp to the Meta Account Center, the company will also be able to use ad preferences and information from all of the user's accounts, including Facebook and Instagram .

In this regard, although ads will not be displayed in user chats, the processing of personal data and the use of information from other related Meta accounts must be analyzed to ensure compliance with the GDPR.