messenger services
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Alternatives to WhatsApp bring better data protection
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There are many different messenger services on the market.
Photo: dpa/Frank Rumpenhorst
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Düsseldorf Messenger WhatsApp is repeatedly criticized for its sometimes inadequate data protection. There are many alternatives. The consumer advice center knows what users need to look out for. An overview.
Staying in touch with friends and families, recording voice messages, sending photos: With messenger services, you can do this anytime, anywhere in the world. Probably the most popular messaging service is WhatsApp. According to the company, more than two billion people in more than 180 countries use the app. WhatsApp has been part of the Meta Group (formerly Facebook) since 2014. Since then, criticism of data protection has become louder and louder. In the terms of use, Meta granted itself the right to exchange user data from WhatsApp with all other Meta services, as reported by the Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers. He therefore filed a lawsuit at the beginning of 2017, and the proceedings are currently on hold.
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At the beginning of the year, the consumer advice center examined various alternatives to WhatsApp. Ginlo and Threema can be used largely anonymously, because they do not require information such as e-mail or mobile phone number. threema assigns a randomly generated ID under which users are displayed to others. To use of Ginlo only a display name needs to be specified. In groups, users are not directly accepted by others, but instead receive an invitation by default, which they can either reject or accept, according to the consumer advice center. End-to-end encryption is standard at Ginlo. This means that only chat participants can access the content of the message. “End-to-end encryption is the most important thing when using messenger services,” says Carl Christoph Möller, data protection and data security officer at the NRW consumer advice center. App providers cannot use it to access news content.
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On the other hand, users have to register with Facebook, Signal, Skype, Telegram and Wire. Facebook requires a profile on Facebook or a cell phone number. By default, chats are not end-to-end encrypted. Encryption can be activated for conversations with only two participants, according to the consumer advice center. “Even if encryption is activated in an individual chat, so-called metadata is generated, which can also be used for personalization,” according to the consumer advice center.
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By default, however, it is end-to-end encrypted Signal, which accesses the user’s telephone number and requires a username – but this could also be a pseudonym, explains the consumer advice center. For an account at Skype An email address or mobile phone number is required. End-to-end encryption is only available for a private conversation exclusively for another chat participant, according to the consumer advice center in its comparison. at Telegramwhich also accesses the telephone number, end-to-end encryption can be activated.
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The question of whether the messenger service accesses contacts in the phone book is important for users, explains Carl Christoph Möller. This is one of the reasons for the criticism of WhatsApp. WhatsApp accesses the smartphone’s address book and transfers all contacts to your own computer. “It makes no difference whether the respective contact uses WhatsApp or not. The app also collects a lot of metadata – i.e. who communicated with whom, when and how often. This metadata alone allows many conclusions to be drawn about the users and their relationships with one another,” says the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI), who oversees the messenger services in Germany.
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Without access to the address book, it is not possible to start a chat with Telegram on iOS, according to the consumer advice center. With other apps, access can be allowed or denied manually – for example with Threema or Signal. Some providers encrypt the telephone numbers. So too Wire. The provider accesses the cell phone number or email address. “Since Wire can be used across smartphones and computers, message content is cached in encrypted form on servers until it is delivered,” according to the report by the consumer advice center.
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If you want to protect yourself when using messenger services, you should use the apps as data-sparingly as possible, says Carl Christoph Möller. For example, users can use pseudonyms, add individual contacts via their phone number instead of granting access to the phone book, switch off their online status and use the erasable message function. This is possible with WhatsApp, Wire, Telegram, Signal, Ginlo and Facebook. But be careful: “It is not easy to check whether a message that consumers delete on their own is also deleted from the provider’s server,” says Möller.
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Möller explains where a backup is created, for example in the cloud or on local storage, also plays a role. Storage in the cloud harbors risks of data leaks. If, on the other hand, the backup is only stored locally, users no longer have access if they lose their cell phone. Different messengers often offer the same range of functions, says Möller. Users should choose a service that requires little data and encrypts it well.
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The supervision of messenger services in Germany lies with the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). However, if the operator has its headquarters in another EU member state, the local data protection supervisory authority is responsible, explains Christof Stein, spokesman for the BfDI. This also applies to controls. “Those affected can contact the BfDI or the state data protection supervisory authority in their state of residence at any time with submissions or complaints,” says Stein.
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However, all alternatives to WhatsApp have a problem: Because they have fewer users, fewer people can be reached in principle. However, more and more people are currently using the signal that many contacts can be maintained.
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