At the end of December, the Swiss army sent an email to all commanders and chiefs of staff, asking soldiers to use the Swiss messaging service Threema, Tages-Anzeiger revealed . The recommendation applies "to everyone" , including conscripts who are coming for the first time to do their military service, but also to those who are returning for the so-called "refresher course" period, in this country where conscripts must regularly return to the army in the following years to train, said Daniel Reist, the army spokesman.
The question of using messaging has arisen particularly during Covid-19 operations to support hospitals and the vaccination programme, in which conscripts may be called upon to participate, Reist said.
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A paid application
Already used in public administrations in Switzerland, the Threema overseas chinese in australia data messaging service has been deemed more secure in terms of data protection, while other messaging services such as WhatsApp are subject to the Cloud Act. This American law, passed in 2018, allows American judges to order access to data held by American operators, even if this data is located on servers outside the United States.
Unlike WhatsApp, owned by the American company Meta (formerly Facebook) , or Signal, Threema is not free, but the Swiss army will cover the cost of downloading the application: 4 Swiss francs (3.85 euros) per user.
Communications are end-to-end encrypted and users do not need to link their login to a phone number or email, says the Swiss company, which claims 10 million users, including 2 million for its messaging service intended for use in a professional setting. "This is a special seal of approval for us ," said Roman Flepp, Threema's marketing director.
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Launched in late 2012 by three young computer engineers, the first version of the messaging service quickly met with strong demand, quickly gathering some 250,000 users. A series of revelations the following year – including the Prism surveillance program revealed by Edward Snowden and the scandal surrounding the tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone – caused the number of users to jump before it exploded in 2014, when Facebook bought WhatsApp.
