WhatsApp and Skype Set to Come Under New EU Security Rules.

The popular online messaging company such as Skype and WhatsApp will have to face stricter rules on managing users under new data and security laws slated to be proposed by the European Union. European Union executives are reportedly attempting Handing Over The Top service.

All the online web services company will have to guarantee the confidentiality of the communications and will have to obtain users permission to process their location data. The telecom companies have long complained that companies such as Facebook, Microsoft and Alphabet Inc's Google are more lightly managed, despite offering similar services.

According to a draft document, web-based messaging service will reportedly be obliged to gain users consent and provide confidentiality of communication when handling the customer's data, including location data. The regulation would also render it unnecessary for the websites to ask visitors for permission to place cookies on browsers, Cookies are placed on web surfers' computers and contain bits of information about the visitors, such as what other websites they have visited or where they are logging in from. They are widely used by firms to deliver targeted advertisements to the users. The new regulation will come into effect in 2018.

A European Commission spokeswoman refused to comment on the draft but said the aim of the survey was to adapt the rules to the data protection law which will come into force in 2018 and simplify the terms for cookies. Telecom companies, barred by current rules from using consumer data to provide extra services and make more money, will be able to use customers data with their consent, according to the proposal. The draft is set to be revealed in January 2017 and may undergo with some alteration before being officially executed.