Using WhatsApp blue tick to sign contracts? WhatsApp chats have been considered a verbal contract between the parties by a Court in Vigo (Galicia, Spain).
WhatsApp conversations may be a legally binding contract for the parties. An unpaid rent was the origin of this ruling. The landlords sued the tenant and the Court accepted the WhatsApp messages as the valid contract that governed the legal relationship between them. The Court took into account the fact that WhatsApp was the means used by the parties to agree on all the terms of the rent and to share the relevant documents in order to formalise it.
WhatsApp messages as contract and evidence in Court
Article 1278 of Spanish Civil Code states that “contracts will be legally binding for the parties regardless of their verbal or written nature, as long as the essential elements for their validity are met [namely: consent, object and cause]”.
As for the use of WhatsApp messages as a valid evidence in Court, there are, however, some requirements that apply, like the need of experts reports to verify the origin of the communication, the parties identities and the content integrity. Providing the password in order to let the Court access the relevant accounts, allowing access to the device as such or gathering recognition of the existence and truthfulness of the conversation from each of the parties have been accepted by some Courts as evidence enough.
WhatsApp, smart contracts and blockchain
In the light of this ruling, one may wonder if WhatsApp conversations may become one of the “blocks” of blockchain technology and be part of the smart contracts in the future. In order to achieve this, all the messages would need to be sorted and be accessible, maybe with no time limit, for verification purposes. This hypothetical but possible scenario would involve several privacy concerns, because WhatsApp messages may be deemed personal data, thus RGPD and other pieces of legislation, like the one concerning AI, may apply.
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