Swiss soldiers are no longer allowed to use WhatsApp while on duty

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Swiss Messenger Threema: Swiss soldiers, the app is paid for

Photo: SASCHA STEINBACH / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock

The Swiss Army has banned WhatsApp and other messaging services such as Signal or Telegram for official use.

Instead, soldiers should use the Threema service, whose provider is based in Switzerland, as an army spokesman told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

The »Tages-Anzeiger« had previously reported on it.

According to the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA, the armed forces justified the decision with the fact that Threema complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation and is not subject to the "Cloud Act". The US law, which has been in effect since 2018, enables American authorities to access data stored online by US companies. WhatsApp belongs to the American company Meta, which was called Facebook until 2021.

According to the »Tages-Anzeiger«, the Swiss Army sent an email to senior professional officers at the end of December, in which they asked the soldiers to use Threema on their private devices while on duty.

According to the army spokesman, this also applies to military service.

Military service is compulsory for young men in Switzerland and they can also be repeatedly committed to shorter assignments after they have completed their military service.

The question of a suitable messaging service is currently particularly relevant due to the army's operations in the corona pandemic.

The federal soldiers, including many conscripts, are regularly called in to provide support in hospitals and for the vaccination campaign in the country.

Threema is already used by Swiss authorities.

The end-to-end encrypted service is considered more secure in terms of data protection compared to competitors such as WhatsApp, but unlike them, it is not free.

The Swiss Army intends to cover the cost of the download of four Swiss francs (equivalent to 3.85 euros) for the soldiers.

mak / afp