Modern administration in the club
Create a club & try PREMIUM free of charge for 30 days
Offene Positionen anzeigen
If you see WhatsApp as a software tool, it is the most widely used digitization tool in clubs. In this post, you can find out why this is the case and why you should look for an alternative
One thing in advance: This post is not meant to hit on WhatsApp. However, we see it as an important point of information, which we do not want to withhold from you. Our information also doesn't say that WhatsApp should not be used at all. However, there are major restrictions that many clubs are not aware of.
But now to the question of why WhatsApp is used in so many clubs. The reason is obvious. WhatsApp is a free messaging service for private individuals and has established itself as the market leader in German-speaking countries over the last 10 years. In short, everyone has WhatsApp on their smartphone and is familiar with the functions.
This makes it very convenient for you as a club to simply create a club group and add all people to it. Nothing is faster than that. No one has to register again and it's free to boot. But as is often the case, you have to pay for it somehow — in this specific case, you pay with your data.
.webp)
The following listings can be seen as neutral pros and cons regarding the use of WhatsApp. We have also tried to explain each point so that you can see what this means for you as a club.
Experts estimate that WhatsApp is installed on 95% of all smartphones in Germany. That's insane coverage. Not everyone in the club has a smartphone now, but either way, you get 80 to 85% availability among your own members.
Since it is a pure messaging service, the functionality is manageable, which makes WhatsApp very understandable overall. And yet you can send extremely extensive images, videos, locations, voice messages and texts.
For longer messages, you can switch to the web interface on the PC, which makes writing long messages more efficient.
Certainly an important argument for you as a club, as the financial burden must not get out of hand.
Where there are advantages, there must also be disadvantages. However, in the case of WhatsApp for “business” club use, these can have serious consequences. Since some of the following points are not compliant with the GDPR, you are not permitted to use WhatsApp for official club communications at all.
Please do not swap the following points with private use of WhatsApp, as this does not matter with regard to the GDPR. This is about the use of WhatsApp in the club for official agendas.
Your data sent to WhatsApp (whether encrypted or unencrypted) is usually outside the EU and is also processed there. In this case, processing means prepared.
WhatsApp also accesses the contact details of people in your phone book who aren't even on WhatsApp themselves. WhatsApp requires this to synchronize data to use the service. Here, too, WhatsApp is not compatible with the GDPR.
We talk a lot with clubs and hear time and again that sharing WhatsApp is not ideal for private use as well as for club agents. Mentally, everything is mixed up and it is assumed that you can be reached anytime and anywhere.
Although it is often assumed that everything on WhatsApp is encrypted and cannot be read by third parties, that is not entirely correct. This is because metadata such as telephone number, usage activity, device information is processed unencrypted by WhatsApp itself. The same applies to backups that are stored directly by device manufacturers (Apple/Samsung).
Every club that has ever tried to conduct an orderly communication or survey via WhatsApp knows that this is wishful thinking. Between serious topics, photos and interim discussions arise again and again, which make evaluation difficult.
What does that mean for you as a club?
None of this means that you are not allowed to use WhatsApp as a club. Small, privately managed groups for quick communication are absolutely permitted. The key word here is “private.” What is not permitted under the General Data Protection Regulation is the content and the targeted club communication that takes place through it. This includes, for example, scheduling, information about meetings, and announcements.
Get your first 6 months free with the code VP30DACH.
Save not only time, but also money!
*Valid when you purchase the first package with a duration of 12 months.
Yes, go ahead—even if it takes some effort and you encounter resistance from your members. Keep in mind, however, that data breaches are no trivial matter and that even a club is not immune to penalties. In cases of gross violations and negligence, these penalties can amount to as much as 20 million euros. This is the maximum amount, but even smaller fines can and should be avoided.
On the one hand, there is open source software, such as Mattermost, which you can host yourself (this requires your own server and technical understanding). On the other hand, direct WhatsApp alternatives, such as Signal or Threema, can also be an option. Please keep in mind that these are all software for general private use. These are not tools that were made for clubs and their communication — but they could still be suitable for your specific use.
Free e-paper on digitization
We have prepared the most important areas relating to digitization for clubs and summarized them compactly in an ePaper. Get your club on track digitally too — continue to e-paper download.
When the new General Data Protection Regulation came in 2018, we agreed with Vereinsplaner to think about how we could offer clubs a clean and, above all, GDPR-compliant solution here. We then built our own chat, which, in addition to our entire club software, should strengthen communication within the club.
Our servers are located in Germany and the chat itself can do exactly what it is intended for — write and receive messages (text and image). Because for surveys and news, there are members' app a separate area. As a result, nothing is mixed together from the communication side.
Be part of over 15,000 clubs
This article is intended to inform and make you think. We know that you have a lot to do in a club and that you can't worry about anything else. Nevertheless, we also know from our own experience that some topics deserve attention. Data protection is one such issue.
With this article, we make no claim to completeness and accuracy and recommend everyone who deals with the topic of data protection to inform and think about it. In a separate article, we have prepared important general information on data protection and a sample template for you — to the data protection contribution.
