On the basis of this I have requested any future communication between BA & me be conducted by pigeon.

It is true that WhatsApp is ubiquitous in the UK. Indeed as I said previously, I genuinely don't know anyone here that doesn't use it and am not quite sure how people of working age (including some upthread apparently) get by normally without it!

And true about the US, much less common there. I was recently on a US trip where they set up the group chat in iMessage and it was a disaster (even though I'm an iPhone user), so much worse than the WhatsApp experience.

That said, it's definitely not (yet) the default method of communicating with airlines or hotels.

You can ask but you won't get.

A data controller can propose methods of communicating with data subjects, and the data subjects have the right to consent to that. Especially where there was a perfectly valid means of communication in place previously that the data subject was happy with.

Indeed. I think those who don't use WhatsApp would be the outliers here. I use it all the time. But it�s not something I would ever use for either work or for interacting with a business, and I would find it odd that a business would use WhatsApp rather than email to send an important message.

in Israel and middle east it is the preferred method of comms amongst my business counter parts

Having acquired an esim for a personal trip to far east am hoping it will be useful there rather than turning on expensive UK roaming

That's not true though. You have the right to opt out of marketing and most companies also give a preference of communication channel but this last part is best practice rather than mandatory.

The contact in this thread relates to an existing contract/holiday and you have no rights around how BA tries to contact you about it. Whether or not using WhatsApp is a good move is a different matter.

And re the processing of personal data, if the data is deemed necessary and has been approved for 'processing' through Microsoft, Apple, Google, Samsung or whatever other email systems people use, then safe to assume it's also valid via WhatsApp.

Interestingly, on my BA contact preferences I have �Social Media� unchecked and have an upcoming BAH next week.

I like many others class WhatsApp as Social Media.

Previously I have received BAH notifications via SMS.

So how grumpy should I get if BAH attempt to WhatsApp me?

The OP's complaint, as I understand it, is that BA attempted to use a method of communication which requires a third-party app that some don't want to use, or do use it but only socially. BA made no effort to ask whether it was a valid contact method. Maybe next they'll send messages over Signal or Telegram or Mastodon or Bluesky ...

This wastes time. BA send a message that isn't received. It could be time critical but instead they just fire it off randomly before waiting for that to fail then using the communication method they should (email or - if mobile number provided - sms).

I personally don't mind WhatsApp. Worse is the fact this forum is full of advice that to get BA to do anything one must use X. That's one app / service I'll never use.

But I assume that if you need something from them, WhatsApp doesn't exist and they want you to call.

TBH, I don't care about AF meals, La Premiere and what not, the best thing about AFKL and why I'm inclined to book with them is that if I have an issue, I can message them on WhatsApp and not deal with it using some stupid phone line which is probably the most inefficient way imaginable to deal with rebookings etc.

I live in Canada and I know nobody who uses Whatsapp. I had not heard of it until it was mentioned here. If BA sent something via that method I'd never see it. It seems a poor practice to send communications about a booking by methods that are not mentioned in the booking process. If I provide an email address, use that.

Agreed! When it was Twitter, maybe.. (although I've never used either)

really?

Nope, asked around all my friends and got blank stares or a quizzical look. Mind you, my friends are not 14, but I do have some 20 something friends and they didn't know about it either. We all use Apple iMessage or text, rather than a third party app. Whatsapp doesn't add any functionality that iMessage doen't have. Whatsapp is obviously not popular around these parts.

I knew WhatsApp was less popular in NA than in the UK but I also find that surprising. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't use it. Telegram (and presumably Signal) also becoming increasingly popular. Well, less rare.

I use WhatsApp for business services (travel, tradesmen etc) as much as possible. It's great. I don't primarily see it as Social Media, but depends on your definition I guess.

Presumably Apple iMessage doesn't (fully) work on Android - what happens there?

It's very much an urban thing. When I tried to ban it, some years back too, it was things like schools apparently insisting parents used it (I had my doubts on that) and one or two staff saying it was vital for staying in touch with elderly relatives, and they would use WhatsApp something like 20 to 50 times a day. Whereas in my rural valley of 400 people, and I'm related to about a third of them, there are only 9 users, hence my surprise at the revolt.