Germany's data chief tells ministries WhatsApp is a no-go
Data privacy commissioner Ulrich Kelber said any use of
WhatsApp was prohibited for federal ministries and institutions, even if some
had resorted to using it during the current pandemic.
In a letter to branches of the federal government, Kelber
said that bodies must respect, and not neglect, data protection "even in
these difficult times."
He stressed that federal entities were obliged to uphold
Germany law and had a role model function.
The Düsseldorf newspaper Handelsblatt said Kelber,
previously a Social Democrat (SPD) federal parliamentarian, was reacting to
complaints from citizens about the use of WhatsApp by unnamed federal
authorities.
"Just by sending messages, metadata is delivered to
WhatsApp every time," said Kelber, adding that it could be assumed that
these data snippets were then forwarded directly to Facebook, WhatsApp's parent
concern.
"These contribute, even if only as a small piece of the
mosaic, to the increased storage of personal profiles," he wrote,
referring to IP addresses and locations.
WhatsApp, cited in Handelblatt's Monday edition, rebutted
Kelber's warning, saying the messaging service did not forward user data to
Facebook — for example, to enable more accurately the distribution of online
advertising.
"WhatsApp cannot read messages because they are
encrypted throughout by default," said its spokesman.
Only the people who sent messages to each other could read
them — but not WhatsApp, Facebook or anyone else, asserted the commercial
service.
In recent weeks, Kelber has also entered debate in Germany
about plans to create viral tracing and vaccination apps, warning that a
person's health data must be especially protected in the online realm.
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