Your life without WhatsApp: A guide to happiness

The desire to live without WhatsApp is not a decision against the simple functions of WhatsApp, which other messengers also offer, but a decision against Meta. Because Meta is a perfidious data octopus, well-known and freely available messengers such as Signal or Threema are better in every respect.

Introduction

Meta tramples our rights with its feet. Meta does not comply with laws. Meta exploits our behavior for the benefit of Meta and others, and to our detriment. That's how much we're motivated to leave WhatsApp.

Meta is and remains a company that wants to make as much money as possible with as many of your data as possible. To do this, Meta wants to help others get to know you as well as possible and to influence you.

They are supposed to buy certain products that they actually don't need or can't afford. They are supposed to send your contacts' data to Meta, even though their contacts haven't agreed.

They should choose the party that "best" advertises on Facebook, Instagram or anywhere else online where Meta interferes.

They should find the opinion good that is tailored to the target group, which can be attributed to them according to Meta.

The solution is simple and was carried out by myself (yes, I'm ashamed for having been on WhatsApp at all):

• Delete WhatsApp account, uninstall WhatsApp: This post
• Terminate Facebook membership: Already completed some time ago
• Do not use Instagram: What for? More time for better activities
• Encourage others to do the same: this is especially true for WhatsApp, as many people use it to communicate directly

Instead of WhatsApp, I recommend Signal or Threema. Actually it's irrelevant. Because no other messaging provider can and wants to misuse as many data from you and other users like the Meta conglomerate does.

That's why meta is evil (excerpt): Meta influenced the 1st election of Donald Trump (Cambridge Analytica data scandal). Meta spies on users' connection data (EU fine followed). Meta cracks encrypted connections of competitors (Snapchat) to steal user data. Meta offers "partners" access to Facebook user data (Microsoft was able to see all friend lists without user consent).

Source on Cambridge Analytica (and documentary on Netflix), Source on the fine, Source on Snapchat, Source on Microsoft.

Why should Signal be petty when WhatsApp and Meta collect much more data, "share" it with "partners" and crack encryption? This pettiness is inconsistent, inappropriate and strategically misguided for all WhatsApp users. The strategy must be to deprive Meta of as many users and therefore as much data as possible.

First, there are arguments against WhatsApp. Then I list naive arguments from WhatsApp advocates. Finally, I give recommendations on how to quit WhatsApp in practice.

Argumente gegen WhatsApp

The problem is not WhatsApp, but Meta (formerly Facebook). Meta is one of the biggest data octopuses on this planet and probably also on other planets as soon as they are colonized or serve as data points.

Meta operates the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms, among others. Thank you for that. However, this is done in a way that is often illegal. Meta uses the data of users like you and me to create extensive behavioral profiles of us.

With behavioral profiles, people can be better assessed and thus also manipulated. This manipulation often takes place through advertising, but also through supposedly factual reporting.

Meta helps others so that you can buy products that you would actually never buy yourself.

Meta also influences elections. As a keyword, Cambridge Analytica should be mentioned here. In this data scandal from the USA, Donald Trump's election was significantly influenced by identifying undecided non-voters as such and then bombarding them with advertising messages. Meta and Google were involved together and provided user data from their platforms to Donald Trump's marketing team. According to my information, a million dollars a day were invested to influence you as an undecided voter so that you would vote for the right (i.e., from the perspective of Meta and Google) candidate. For more information, see the Netflix documentary with the title Cambridge Analytica.

Advertisers on Facebook can display ads to users who fit into their target group. A target group could be: Female, likes to travel, between 30 and 40 years old, has a cat, etc. Facebook determines this target group for the advertiser.

If you disguise your advertising on Facebook and design it as a report, you can influence users' opinions and thus their behavior in a targeted manner.

Even the German federal government used Facebook for advertising campaigns. Those who prefer listening over reading can find some information about that in my Datenschutz-Deluxe Podcast.

The fact that Meta does not care about laws is illustrated here by just a few examples. If you want to know more, you can easily find further examples.

Facebook had (and has?) simply exchanged the data of contacts in a user's phonebook with each other, and then also used it themselves. At least there was a meager fine of €225 million . Meta's earnings are likely to be greater.

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority had prohibited Meta until further notice from serving behavior-based advertising on the platforms Facebook and Instagram and threatened Meta with a fine of one million NOK (approximately 84,500 Euros) per day if Meta did not comply as usual. Apparently, Meta's headquarters in Ireland are to be permanently banned, according to this statement : "On Friday 27th October [2023], the EDPB adopted a decision as per Article 66(2) GDPR, instructing the Irish DPC to impose a permanent ban on Meta's HQ in Ireland." The ban was then also pronounced, as can be read.

That Facebook, a social media platform by Meta, is also illegal has been stated multiple times. We have also discussed this in our Datenschutz Deluxe Podcast.

It's no fun to spend time naming more of Meta's antisocial, illegal, inhuman behavior, it's too much of a waste of time.

Selected arguments from WhatsApp disciples

Many people who use WhatsApp know that they are on the wrong path of virtue. They only or only still use WhatsApp because they think they have to for social reasons. These people can be helped: see recommendations below.

For all the other few who think WhatsApp is a great platform and see no problem with it, I will summarize their statements below according to my personal perception.

I also have to enter my data for other messengers

That's right. How else is it known who wants to communicate with whom? The phone number as a verification mechanism seems perfectly sensible. Complete anonymity amounts to something that can be observed on Telegram.

The difference between Meta and WhatsApp and reputable service providers in a table:

On 01.11.2023, it was announced by The European Data Protection Board that personalized advertising on Facebook (=Meta = WhatsApp) should be banned not only in Norway, but throughout the EU until further notice. The reason is Meta's disrespect towards user data from its platforms

I have nothing to hide

This statement betrays a considerable lack of awareness about the possibilities that user profiles offer. Initially, however, it should be noted that I would regret anyone who has nothing to hide. Such an extremely dull life is one I wouldn't want to lead.

WhatsApp provides real-time data, even to intelligence agencies. Even the FBI refers to WhatsApp as a tattletale.

If a WhatsApp user ever wants to travel to the US, then good luck. Luck is usually on your side anyway. But beware, if you just happened to have contact with someone who has been listed as a suspect by the FBI or another federal agency, I hope they get problems when entering the US so that they learn that WhatsApp is a big risk.

Incidentally, it is sufficient to have a contact in the address book on your own smartphone. This is because WhatsApp synchronizes all contacts with each other. See above the investigation by the Irish data protection authority, which imposed a fine of 225 million euros on WhatsApp for this reason, among others. So you don't even have to have communicated with someone suspected by the US authorities. Saving the phone number is enough. Maybe something like this happens at a trade fair where you quickly type in a business card …

So few people I know are on Messenger X (not like WhatsApp)

Firstly, that's not true. Many people already use Signal, for example.

Secondly, it is because other messengers adhere to legal rules and do not arbitrarily match contacts on smartphone address lists.

Thirdly, the status can be changed quickly. Simply invite the contact person of your choice from Messenger X. With Signal, this can be done with one click (and then selecting the contact or contacts).

Fourthly, exactly two people are sufficient for two people to communicate. Everyone else is of no interest here. Of course, this is only relevant if you are not in a WhatsApp group, which usually contains irrelevant communication.

Fifthly: Ask someone if they're going to vote. Even at the polls everyone has exactly one vote. Somehow you still think it makes a difference. I recommend that everyone go vote anyway. The lesser evil is better than the evil in its entirety. Convenience is no excuse, and not for anything.

Other messengers are just as bad

It's about data protection. Briefly: Through device identifiers and also through network addresses (IP addresses), users can be identified very well. The same device identifier on WhatsApp and on Facebook, Instagram, Google Search, Google Maps or a Google device leads to the same user. The IP address is a personal data value. This is legally ascertainable and evaluated (ECJ, BGH, judgments "Breyer"). This applies even for dynamic IP addresses.

It can't be that other messengers treat personal data just as badly as WhatsApp. Unless the messenger came from Google or Apple (or a Chinese company that I don't know any better). Because all other messenger operators don't have access to that much user data.

In addition, most other messenger providers respect the rights and privacy of their users.

Some even invent data breaches by other messengers such as Signal. One said that Signal was exchanging data with Google. He had found this out because his Google contacts indicated whether individual users were using Signal. There were no reliable answers to several of my queries. One thing is certain: Google contacts are managed by Google, as are Google Smartphones, Google Docs, etc. Signal is also open source. If Signal were to do this anyway, it would still not be as bad as what Meta does. See first paragraph above in this section.

Meta earns money with personalized advertising. Messengers like Signal or Threema do not do this.

Almost any messenger is better than any messenger from Meta, i.e. better than WhatsApp. Use Signal or Threema instead of WhatsApp.

I don't want to install another app

The stupidest argument ever. Installation is a breeze. If it's not worth a few minutes of your time to install another app to stay in touch with you, you're not a friend.

Regardless of this, you can also communicate by text message or phone (call!). The very brave can even meet in person or occasionally exchange information by e-mail. But you don't write emails for every triviality.

End WhatsApp existence: This is how it works

End your WhatsApp existence (at first I wanted to write "End your life on WhatsApp". But some would have taken that as a call for suicide).

A practical guide that worked for me shows the way. The fact that you have to talk about it reveals that WhatsApp has a deep impact on our lives. The points of contact increase over time. At some point, people mistakenly think that quitting WhatsApp would be synonymous with social decline. That's nonsense.

View contacts

To end WhatsApp, you should view the existing contacts and groups there. This is how it works:

Delete from your chat history all chats with people who are not really important to you or with whom there has been no contact for a long time or similar.

You should also delete all group chats in which there has been nothing new for a long time or which are irrelevant.

Install signal

Usually only a few entries remain. That's what it's all about. Before you continue, install Signal or Threema. I recommend Signal. Signal offers all the functions you need and even more. It's also easy to invite others to use Signal too.

Back to the WhatsApp contacts that you can no longer have on WhatsApp in the future.

Write to contacts

Write to all contacts who are important to you. One such message could be:

I am uninstalling WhatsApp because Meta treats personal data disrespectfully and Meta helps others to influence users' behavior by illegally collecting data. We can continue to communicate in other ways, such as by text message, phone, in person or via Signal.

It's best not to have any further discussions about why you're moving away from WhatsApp. It's your decision. If you don't respect that, you can't be a good friend.

WhatsApp groups

Now for the more difficult part. Most groups are irrelevant. Nobody needs funny pictures and stupid slogans. You can get them elsewhere.

Some very few groups have relevance. There is for example a group in my area where news are exchanged from time to time. After critical review it turned out that these news were interesting, but ultimately insignificant.

For example, village festivals were announced. However, announcements were also made by dropping flyers in letterboxes, because fortunately not everyone has WhatsApp. Older people also prefer paper.

Regardless of this, many events take place on a predictable date, such as the second Saturday in August. The organizers also provide information via posters that you are bound to see when you leave the house.

Then there are groups of close friends. Friends have a habit of showing understanding for certain things. That was the case with me. Surprisingly, the friend I had done the best things with before he became a father behaved differently.

He has nothing to hide (see arguments above). Besides, there was hardly anyone on Signal that he knew (see argument above). When he then added me to a new, insignificant WhatsApp group after I informed him that I was leaving WhatsApp, I decided to leave "now".

Important groups usually include contacts who have already been personally informed that WhatsApp will no longer be available.

In my local group, I shared something like the following:

Many thanks to everyone who created this group and filled it with life. I will be leaving WhatsApp. Gladly on Signal in the future. Some people will no longer receive all the party people's apologies in advance. Have fun in the future!

I left the group immediately afterwards. This group was the most important of all the WhatsApp groups I was a member of. After that, exactly one thing happened: Nothing special. Life wasn't just the same as before, it was better.

Send signal invitations

This is only necessary for really relevant contacts, i.e. for most people for fewer than 20.

To see who is not on Signal or to welcome the contact there, write a new message. You will then be asked to which contact the message should be sent. If a search does not produce any results, Signal offers the option "Invite to Signal". Anyone can do the rest. Either send to WhatsApp contacts (as the last action on WhatsApp). Or via SMS or email. If you see each other in person, you can talk to each other.

Delete WhatsApp account

Before uninstalling WhatsApp, first delete the account. This can be done via the WhatsApp menu Settings → Account → Delete account.

WhatsApp uninstallieren

Now it's time to uninstall the WhatsApp app. Don't forget the PC version!

Incidentally, Signal also has a desktop PC version that is more convenient to work with than on the tiny smartphone.

If you have forgotten to delete your WhatsApp account, you should briefly reinstall the WhatsApp app, then delete the account and then uninstall the app again. Alternatively, you could send an email to support@whatsapp.com with the following content:

Subject: Smartphone lost/stolen
Please delete my WhatsApp account
mobile nummer: +49161 11111111
danke!

I recommend entering "Other" as the reason and "Data protection" in the text field.

Conclusion

My life without WhatsApp is better than before. I don't miss anything. On the contrary, you get to know your contacts better. Who reacts how? Which unimportant messages will I no longer receive in the future so that I have more time for other things?

Once you have switched to Signal, you can create new groups or write to contacts there. It works the same or even better than WhatsApp.

The decision against WhatsApp is a decision against Meta and therefore a decision against companies that think they can stretch and break laws until someone bans them. Personally, I don't want to have anything to do with people who live by this maxim in normal life.

When do you delete your WhatsApp account? Have you already contacted and informed your contacts? How many contacts and groups are left after the initial screening and are worth paying attention to?