ZURICH: Switzerland’s army has banned using WhatsApp while on responsibility, a spokesman confirmed on Jan 6, in favour of a Swiss messaging service deemed safer when it comes to information safety.
The ban additionally applies to utilizing different messaging apps like Signal and Telegram on troopers’ personal telephones throughout service operations.
At the top of December, commanders and chiefs of workers acquired an e mail from headquarters recommending that their troops swap to utilizing the Swiss-based Threema.
The advice applies “to everyone”, together with conscripts doing their navy service and people returning for refresher programs, army spokesman Daniel Reist informed AFP.
Switzerland is famously impartial. However, its long-standing place is one among armed neutrality and the landlocked European nation has necessary conscription for males.
The query of utilizing messaging apps on responsibility got here up throughout operations to help hospitals and the vaccination programme in Switzerland’s efforts to manage the Covid-19 pandemic, Reist mentioned.
The Swiss army will cowl the 4 Swiss francs (US$4.35, €3.85 or RM18) price of downloading Threema, which is already utilized by different public our bodies in Switzerland.
Other messaging providers reminiscent of WhatsApp are topic to the US Cloud Act, which permits the United States authorities to entry information held by US operators, even whether it is held on servers outdoors the nation.
Threema, which claims 10 million customers, says it’s an prompt messenger designed to generate as little consumer information as potential. It isn’t financed by promoting.
“All communication is end-to-end encrypted, and the app is open source,” the corporate says on its web site. – AFP
