It is possible that at some time it has come to your mind to create a WhatsApp group and invite unknown people who do not know very well who you are and, above all, because you have decided to do what you have done. It is clear that the groups function is very useful. Not only to communicate with family and friends, but also for specific purposes such as celebrating a birthday, buying a gift, a specific event…
However, the fact that we add or get put in an unknown group and without warning, can have consequences . Even if you don’t know it, not only the fact of including someone you don’t know in a group could be expensive, just as it would happen if someone adds us, but it will also have to be taken into account if the other person has given us permission or not to add us to said group within the instant messaging app. So what are the consequences?
Possible sanctions
Here we must first differentiate between groups between individuals and those who create businesses, organizations, professionals, etc. In this case, we go first with the seconds. Well, as we will see throughout the text, this will be the big difference that makes whether it is legal or not to add an unknown person to a WhatsApp group , or even do so without their consent.
In these cases, that perhaps you have been able to live in your own skin, when someone adds you to a WhatsApp group without your consent and without knowing the other person at all, be it your children’s school, an NGO or similar , would be committing a crime for the simple fact of violating data protection regulations.
There are cases already reported that have ended with fines of up to 4,000 euros, such as what happened to a sports club in Córdoba for adding a former member who had dropped out more than 10 years ago. Therefore, in the case of this type of group for commercial or professional purposes, the consent of the other person will be necessary at all times so that we can add them or put us in that WhatsApp group. Well, if this happens, you can report it.
The difference with the particular groups
Now, in the event that the user of the WhatsApp group that you have added to us is for private use , that is, that it does not have the aforementioned purposes, whether they are commercial, professional, etc., the truth is that, no matter how We don’t want it to be like that, it is completely legal for them to put us in groups without us having given our consent. As it happens, if we ourselves are the ones who put other people without their permission.
Even if an unknown person who, for some reason, has our number, decides to create a WhatsApp group and add us, it will also be completely legal. And it is that a crime will be committed in the event that the group is linked at all times with a professional or commercial activity. Therefore, it is clear that the difference is in who has added us to the group of the mobile instant messaging application.
