WhatsApp and data protection: What you should know

It is often feared that WhatsApp stores a lot of user data on American servers and possibly sells it to third parties.

• Upon request, the developers stated that only the respective telephone numbers, invoice receipts and messages would be saved temporarily.
• The telephone numbers are saved without any further information - i.e. without names from the personal address book. The numbers are needed to enable communication. Otherwise the app would not be able to show who in your address book has installed WhatsApp.
• Messages and invoice receipts are also stored on the servers - but only until the recipient has received them. They are then deleted. If the message is not delivered within 30 days, it will also be automatically deleted. Invoice data is normally never deleted. However, if you delete your account , they will also be removed from the servers after 30 days.
• However, according to “Stiftung Warentest”, WhatsApp’s terms and conditions leave a lot to be desired in terms of data protection. For example, the company secures the right to pass on the data to third parties. Even in the event of a sale, all data will be passed on to the new owner - in this case to the company Facebook.

For a long time, WhatsApp sent data completely without encryption. This means that anyone on the same network (e.g. WiFi) could read your WhatsApp messages. In addition, theoretically anyone with access to the WhatsApp servers could read your messages.

• So-called end-to-end encryption has been available since November 2014 - initially only for Android. Messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, status reports and calls are now also encrypted for users of other operating systems.
• According to Art. 15 of the GDPR you have a right to information. So you can request access to stored data from WhatsApp.
• You will then receive a report of all the data you have collected and stored.