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**Why promote “free messengers” instead of tolerating “WhatsApp”, for example?
Data protection violations are minimized with free messengers:
Each user decides for themselves whether and which contacts are made
No data theft (reading of address books/contacts)
No unwanted transmission of data without the express consent of the user. Internal or trusted numbers are often stored in the address book - sometimes even sometimes even secret numbers that must NOT be disclosed to external parties.
It is not possible for the owner of the data to prevent it from being collected by external collected by external parties without their knowledge. WhatsApp shifts the responsibility responsibility to the user via the terms and conditions, as the user approves the actual forwarding.
Excursus: “Privacy Friendly Apps”:
Many apps, especially free apps (including WhatsApp), require a number of permissions when installed on the smartphone that are not necessary for their functionality.
It is not clear to users whether and when this leads to a breach of privacy. This is particularly critical for Android devices. Here, permissions cannot currently be denied individually but only in “permission groups”. The app is either installed with all the required permissions or the installation cannot be completed. This is where the Privacy Friendly Apps come in.
Source: https://secuso.aifb.kit.edu/105.php