The Associated Press reported that due to privacy concerns, the Swiss Army has abandoned the use of encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram in favor of the homegrown Threema app. As early as December 2021, the relevant departments have already given an explanation in a notice to senior military personnel. The reasons given in the letter relate to a privacy risk to U.S. authorities’ ability to access data.
Initially, the Army Chief of Staff was told no other messaging services will be authorized. However, a follow-up spokesperson diluted the wording a bit and changed it to just a suggestion. But after the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, many organizations realized the importance of privacy protection and compliance, and privacy advocates and multinational corporations alike want to store data without the long arm of the U.S. court system. jurisdiction.
It is reported that the US Cloud Act refers to Washington authorities’ access to the data stored by relevant enterprises in its jurisdiction – no matter where the servers are located, the CLOUD Act requires service providers to obey search warrants. As a Swiss company that does not host servers in the United States, Threema is clearly not obligated to respond and cooperate with such searches.