WhatsApp and Threema: chat room in your trouser pocket

The mobile phone vibrates non-stop. If the 17-year-old doesn't look at her screen for an hour, Anina Merz's mobile phone can receive up to 300 messages. This number quickly adds up, especially when pictures and jokes are sent in group chats.
«The rule for young people is: get out of school and into the chat. Conversations that started in real life are now being continued on messenger services,» says Anina's father, Professor Thomas Merz, media educator at the Thurgau University of Teacher Education.
Itis not surprising that messenger programmes such as WhatsApp, Threema and Snapchat are so popular: the short messages land on the mobile phone as quickly as a text message, and a photo or voice message can be easily attached.
For young people in particular, WhatsApp and other messenger programmes are no longer just about exchanging information - they are simply about chatting and staying in touch. In other words, modern chatting.

WhatsApp requires a high level of communication expertise

«We use new media in a way that corresponds to our everyday habits - at the same time, the possibilities offered by the media naturally also shape our usage behaviour,» says Thomas Merz. He sees a lot of positives in chat programmes: «Valuable communication takes place - maintaining friendships. And that also includes those who live further away.» At the same time, however, marginalisation and harassment are an issue.
Because the messenger programmes are what the users do with them. There are no in-built filters that prevent pornographic or violent material from being sent, for example.
Young people should therefore already have a very high level of communication skills before they start typing. «If I know how to manage and maintain human relationships, I can use new media as a tool. And recognise when they are holding me back,» says Merz.
He argues that it is more important for parents to fundamentally strengthen their children's communication skills than to familiarise themselves with every single new technology. This includes a good, open dialogue atmosphere at home and parents' interest in their children's experiences and thoughts. In principle, it is of course good if parents also gain experience with messengers. Merz: «This allows me to experience fascination as well as questions and challenges directly and I can also accompany my children much better.»

Data protection? The conversation is not private

There is also a great deal of uncertainty about how secure texts, images and videos sent via messenger programmes are. «There is a suggestion that messages are private, which is not true,» says Merz. To make sure that what you send really only reaches the recipient, you need to know how messengers send the data. «A secure messenger service has end-to-end encryption,» says media educator and security expert Daniel Seitz. WhatsApp was one of the last messenger services to introduce this encryption.
With end-to-end encryption, the data is encrypted for the transmission path from smartphone to smartphone - even the app operator has no access to the data. For example, end-to-end encryption can prevent a third party from reading private conversations via a crack programme - for example, a flatmate or someone else who is logged into the same Wi-Fi network.
Despite end-to-end encryption, however, we cannot completely rely on the security of our data. The servers of most messengers, such as WhatsApp, are not located in Switzerland. This means that the photos of Ruedi the cat and his drunken colleague are not subject to Swiss data protection law.
Security experts also criticise the fact that only a few messengers disclose their programme codes. So you can't be completely sure that the programme isn't filming and taking photos without you wanting it to.

Data protection expert Hellweg: «WhatsApp is the most dangerous app!»

WhatsApp has long been a thorn in the side of data protectionists. Data protection expert Martin Hellweg puts it bluntly: «The minimum age for WhatsApp should be 99 - in my opinion, it's the most dangerous app of all!» This is mainly due to the fact that so many people use it on a very regular basis, making it completely open when we write to whom and where - all of this is transmitted via the metadata and is not protected by end-to-end encryption.
And WhatsApp also knows who else we know. This is because the app accesses the contact data in the address book in the usual usage mode (you can switch it off, but then the functionality is limited) - which is illegal, by the way, because their declaration of consent for the data transfer is missing, as a court in Germany ruled in 2017.

Online dossier on media consumption

Quite apart from that, WhatsApp now belongs to the mega-company Facebook and nobody really knows what happens to our data there. There are always wild rumours and new findings. Just recently, for example, it was revealed that there is a hidden WhatsApp function that can be used to track friends.
Hellweg concludes from the price Facebook paid for WhatsApp alone how valuable the data collected there is for the US company: Facebook paid a total of 19 billion dollars for a simple app with not too many functions.
Hellweg clearly recommends that parents and teachers switch to the Swiss alternative Threema , because its servers are located in comparatively secure Switzerland and you can send messages, make calls, etc. anonymously, i.e. without using your phone number or email address. There is also no age restriction here. The only disadvantage is that the app costs around three francs. «The business model here is to sell the app - not our data,» explains Hellweg.

If the mobile phone is constantly vibrating, your child is socialising. However, this can also cause stress.

Clear safety rules for families

When it comes to media consumption, parents should talk to their children about possible security vulnerabilities so that they develop an awareness of the fact that communication from mobile phone to mobile phone does not always remain private.
Intimate pictures or photos that reveal their whereabouts should never be sent using messenger programmes. Security expert Daniel Seitz also recommends always checking whether you really know the sender of a message. «As often as young people change their mobile phone number, it can happen that someone else suddenly claims to be my friend XY. And then you've shown or told a stranger something that's none of their business.»

FOMO and comparison of messenger apps

Furthermore, the constant stream of messages can give young people the feeling that they must always be available. Especially when not only friends exchange messages with each other, but class chats are also conducted via WhatsApp. Students discuss homework, for example, with and without the teacher via Messenger. «It's even easier to form groups on WhatsApp than on Facebook - so this form of communication is ideal,» says Merz.
Experts refer to the fear of missing out as FOMO, short for «fear of missing out». Merz puts it into perspective: «You use something, you find it exciting and ultimately there is pressure - but in the long term, many young people realise this themselves and discuss how quickly and to what you have to respond.» His daughter is now quite relaxed about it. Even 300 messages per hour no longer stress Anina because she can decide when she is offline and what she has to reply to afterwards.
Article originally appeared in the February 2015 issue of the Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi and was updated and supplemented on 4 June 2018.
Photo: zVg

Messenger apps in comparison

• WhatsApp: Nach wie vor der beliebteste Messenger hierzulande. Jugendlichen ist WhatsApp sogar wichtiger als die Facebook-App. Weltweit über eine Millionen Nutzer. Seit Kurzem eine End-to-End-Datenverschlüsselung – aber nur für den Text. Die Server stehen in den USA und gehören zu Facebook. Preis: kostenlos.
• Textsecure: Von Sicherheitsexperten empfohlen, da der Programmiercode öffentlich ist und eine sehr sichere End-to-End-Verschlüsselungsmethode gewählt wurde. Das Programm steht allerdings nicht für alle Betriebssysteme zur Verfügung und die Server stehen in Russland. Preis: kostenlos.
• Facebook-Messenger: Wer Facebook nutzt, wird geradezu gezwungen, auch den Messenger zu nutzen, weil er sonst keine Privatnachrichten auf Facebook auf dem Smartphone einsehen kann. Achtung: Die Chats sind nur dann End-to-End verschlüsselt, wenn ein Chat auf geheim eingestellt wird! Das muss manuell gemacht werden, zB über das eingekreiste i-Symbol in einem Chat. Preis: Kostenlos
• Threema: Bei Threema sind die Sicherheitslevel verschiedener User einsehbar und man muss keine Handynummer angeben. Zudem liegen die Daten auf Schweizer Servern und werden verschlüsselt versendet. Der Quellcode ist nur teilweise einsehbar. Preis: rund 3 Franken.
• Snapchat: Verschickte Fotos erscheinen nur für wenige Sekunden auf dem Handy des Empfängers. Das gaukelt Nutzern falsche Sicherheit vor: Der Empfänger kann sie sehr wohl speichern – z. B. als Screenshot. Zudem schreibt Snapchat selbst in seinen Nutzungsbestimmungen, dass sie «jederzeit und aus beliebigem Grund auf deine Inhalte zugreifen und diese prüfen, einsehen und löschen» dürfen. Preis: kostenlos.

In 2017, the computer magazine Connect compared other messenger apps such as Telegram and Signal. Click here for the article.

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Read more:

• Tina Z. explains in the teen blog why you MUST reply to WhatsApp messages immediately.

• Protect your data? It's child's play! The 11 most important tips from data protection expert Martin Hellweg.

• More and more young people are only reading news via social media - that's a problem .