More than 50 million Germans use WhatsApp. What sounds like a winning number is a trend reversal. Just a few years ago, there were almost 60 million people who regularly sent messages via the Messenger of the Facebook parent company Meta.
An online survey shows that while 95 percent used WhatsApp regularly in 2018, it was now only 83 percent. Tendency: further decreasing.
Because even if WhatsApp itself does not show any advertising: The app constantly supplies the Meta advertising network with location data, telephone numbers and communication logs of its users (who, when, how with whom?)
At the latest, the changes to the terms and conditions in 2021 have led many users to think about leaving WhatsApp. There are enough alternatives
European rules are studiously ignored. Meta only had to pay a fine of 225 million euros in autumn 2021 because WhatsApp refused to comply with the transparency obligation required by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For the German data protection officer Ulrich Kelber, the million-euro fine was just a “small step in the right direction.”
The British got serious this week. They ordered their army a full WhatsApp Brexit. There are “significant security concerns” about the app.
But getting out in real life isn’t as easy as it is in the British military. I’ve been dreaming of finally being able to throw the app off my phone for years. But I can’t compete with the die-hards (which, annoyingly, include my daughter). Whether in the family, in the office or in the neighborhood – someone always insists that you use the oh-so-convenient WhatsApp group to communicate.
A switch would not be difficult at all. The British are recommending that their military organize defense of the fatherland via the Signal app from now on. It is operated by a non-profit organization that collects no data about users, is based in England and complies with the GDPR.
And the best part: For us users, Signal offers practically the same functions as WhatsApp. We’d just have to switch. But it looks like we’re still about 50 million users away from that goal.