Replying To Offside_Rule:  "My point on this topic is that there is already a great communication app out there which the world uses for both personal and other uses. Sporting organisations across the globe use it as their way of communication - professional and amateur alike. Whatsapp already has the settings available to allow controls over Groups such as one way communication. If those who made this decision have genuine concerns then they should be providing education on how clubs can use Whatsapp for those who may not be aware of the capabilities of it, not trying to push their own or re-invent the wheel. History has shown that the GAA doesn't have a great track record when it comes to their own technological advances. And then to hide behind the GDPR blanket - the purpose of which incidentally was to stop Organisations collecting and storing your personal data for their own use or benefit, not stopping people from communicating.

A bit of common sense goes a long way some times."

Replying To moc.dna:  "Back to your usual defence of the GAA hierarchy, I wonder why, close to the bone maybe. Anyways in relation to your statement re my suggestion about the club issuing a legal letter, well the common sense you seem so fond of would be applicable in allowing two clubs merge for the particular age group as neither can field a full team & particularly when there was already precedence in place, but common sense at County Board level & higher is not something members see often. A legal letter is the only way to get these inept officials to act.
Secondly your defence of the GAA re the whatsapp story is as usual laughable. You say the GAA have been warning clubs on the potential risks with whatsapp for 2 years, maybe you could put a link up to the warnings they issued two years ago & tell us why they haven't developed a sysytem to replace it in 2 years. Please tell us when the new system will be in place & whether it will be free to clubs. Let's hope it's regulation s better than the time in 2010 when the entire records of the 510,000 membership including children were leaked & nothing was encrypted. Maybe they could also tell us how many breaches of GDPR were reported to their own systems in the last two years & what action were taken, that would be really interesting, as when journalists starting looking for that info, there will be some shock."

Replying To Pikeman96:  "Well, I heard somebody from the Data Commissioner's office on radio yesterday, talking about the settings within WhatsApp like "Group Invitation" (which I admit I didn't know about). It means that if you use it a certain way, it's not in breach of GDPR at all, since everybody has opted in and is aware that certain info might be visible to others.

As somebody said above, I reckon Croke Park would be better occupied by giving training/direction on this sort of thing, instead of issuing a blanket "Don't use WhatsApp" order."