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In the WhatsApp Terms of Service (and yes, I generally read a service's TOS before signing up) it states that "If you live in a country in the European Region, you must be at least 16 years old to use our Services or such greater age required in your country to register for or use our Services. If you live in any other country except those in the European Region, you must be at least 13 years old to use our Services or such greater age required in your country to register for or use our Services"

The European Region is further defined as "a country in the European Economic Area (which includes the European Union), and any other included country or territory (collectively referred to as the "European Region")", so I assume this includes the UK.

All this means, as I understand it, that people living in the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland must be 16 or over to use WhatsApp, while people in any other country must be 13 or over. What I want to know is, when Britain leaves the EU on January 31st, will we have left the European Region or will we still be part of it until the end of the transition period (which I believe is the end of this year)?

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Leaving the EU will not affect these Terms unless WhatsApp update them

"European Region" is a definition they've invented. It has no legal meaning in relation to the European Union or our status therein. They define "European Region" as:

Andorra, Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Réunion, Romania, San Marino, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United Kingdom sovereign bases in Cyprus (Akrotiri and Dhekelia), and Vatican City.

They can decide to remove the United Kingdom from their definition of "European Region" at any time, regardless of our membership of the European Union.

Until those Terms change, everyone in the UK has to be 16 or older to use WhatsApp.

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