Instant messaging is an immediate and effortless means for information exchange, and it has become an integral part of today’s business communication. Instant messaging simplifies communication, improves collaboration, expedites workflows, and increases productivity. It is the most popular communication tool.
Risks of conventional chat solutions
Many of the apps that are used for business purposes don’t meet legal data-privacy requirements. Often used under the radar as “shadow IT,” messengers like WhatsApp pose several risks:
Unrestricted access to user data (such as contacts, metadata, locations, etc.) must be granted
Third parties can gain access to this data
The encryption used in them is not verifiable
There is no means for administration and user management
Legal requirements are not met
There is no strict separation between personal and professional communication
To find out how Threema differs from WhatsApp in terms of security and data protection, please refer to this in-depth comparison.
In November 2021, the FZI Research Center for Information Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, released a comprehensive legal study on the corporate use of messaging services as well as a compact practical guide (both in German), see blog post.
