Free applications offer the greatest convenience, such as WhatsApp to communicate and WeTransfer to share files. Great that you don't have to pay for these apps, but using these tools is not always safe for businesses. After all, what happens to the data you share with these apps? We take you through the risks involved in using these types of free applications and how to deal with them.
No non-disclosure agreement
When using free apps, you often do not have a non-disclosure or processor agreement. This means that nothing prevents the application from revealing or reselling your data to other parties. These may use your data, for example, to show you ads that suit you or to give you certain information or advice. With WhatsApp, for example, you cannot enter into a non-disclosure agreement. So as a business, you have no guarantee that information your employees send to each other or customers will not be resold to other parties.
For paid services, from Microsoft for example, this is different. For services aimed at businesses, a non-disclosure agreement or processor agreement is a standard part of the procedure.
Who owns your data?
Free applications may include terms stating that they will own the data being shared. For example, this is the case with WeTransfer. They have in their terms of use that not you, but WeTransfer owns those files you share as a user. This means that the company can share your files with other parties at will.
Free applications and the AVG
Free applications do not always fully comply with the AVG. Data processed in the EU is subject to the AVG. The AVG contains detailed regulations for companies and organizations on the processing (collection, storage, processing, etc.) of personal data. Free apps that belong to a large company still sometimes want to ignore rules of the AVG. For example, Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, was fined millions in 2023 for violating the AVG. Meta allegedly transferred users' data to the United States without ensuring that their privacy would be guaranteed there. The company has been summoned to stop that data transfer, but has already indicated it will appeal. Meta has previously been fined millions of euros in Europe for privacy violations. According to the European Data Protection Board, Meta "systematically, repeatedly and continuously goes wrong.
How can you deal with the risks of free applications?
It is important to properly instruct your employees on what can and cannot be shared with free applications. For example, scheduling an appointment without naming the customer name or other substantive information via WhatsApp doesn't hurt. Discussing confidential company or customer information, on the other hand, is not a good idea.
For file sharing, we recommend the following: You can share public files and data just fine with a free application, but if you want to retain ownership of certain files or data, it is better not to use these tools. A better alternative is to create a OneDrive folder to share files. This offers more options for setting up permissions and is covered by the processing agreement Microsoft offers.
Ultimately, free applications are convenient and user-friendly, but rarely actually free. The transaction often takes place with the data you send and the control you lose over it.
This article was written by Rients van Blanken. Do you need help or have any questions? Please feel free to contact him without obligation.