Communication

In the digital age, there are countless ways to communicate within the project team. At the start of a project, organisations should agree which information is to be shared on which channels. A messenger is suitable for quick coordination within the project team, but the latest version of a project document should rather be sent by email via a link to the file repository.   

Here are some solutions for communication:

E-Mail

🟢 Email provider with a focus on data protection.

• Mailbox.org: German email provider for data protection-compliant emails. (https://mailbox.org/en/)
• Mailfence.com: Belgian e-mail provider (https://mailfence.com)
• Posteo: A German email provider based in Berlin that offers anonymous and sustainable email inboxes, address books and calendars. (https://posteo.de/)
• Tutanota.com: German email provider (https://tutanota.com/)
  

🟢🟡 Own e-mail inboxes: Many organisations manage their emails via the hosting company with which they also operate their website. In this case, the data protection assessment depends on the security standards of the contracted service provider.

🟡 Email inboxes at Microsoft via Microsoft Exchange: In terms of data protection law, there is nothing to prevent the use of US service providers. In the case of Microsoft, however, it is urgently advisable to check and adjust the configuration of Microsoft services at admin level accordingly. 

🟡🔴 Email inboxes at Google via Gmail: Initially, the same statement applies here as with Microsoft. What makes the evaluation of Google mailboxes more difficult is that there are hardly any reliable statements on the use of email content and usage data by Google. It is known that Google uses a large amount of data for its own purposes that is generated when using its email services. (source) Another problem is that Google's product names and services change very frequently. It is therefore difficult for controllers to track whether the use is appropriate from a data protection perspective.

🔴 Other free email providers: As a general rule, private email addresses should not be used in a professional context, nor should providers who offer free email addresses for private use. 

Messenger services

🟢 Rocketchat was developed from an open source solution. The Community Edition of Messenger can be operated on your own servers.  (https://www.rocket.chat)

🟢 Signal is a free messenger and is best known for its data economy and end-to-end encryption. Signal is often recommended by security and data protection experts and offers the same range of functions as WhatsApp.   (https://www.signal.org/) 

🟢 Threema is a messenger from a Swiss company and also offers end-to-end encryption. A special feature of this messenger is that it can be used without a mobile phone number and is therefore particularly data-efficient. Threema also offers a special version for companies. This allows organisations to use the messenger for purely internal communication. (https://threema.ch/ )

🔴 WhatsApp: Many data protection experts assume that it is not possible to use WhatsApp in a professional environment in compliance with data protection law. The background to this is that WhatsApp transmits data from the phone book to its own servers and also belongs to the Meta Group, and it is again not transparent for what purposes Meta uses this data. 

Video conferencing

🟢 BigBlueButton is also an open source solution for video conferencing. BigBlueButton can be operated on your own infrastructure or rented and has integrations with the most important learning platforms. In Germany, BBB is hosted by the education ministries of several federal states on their own servers and used for schools. (https://bigbluebutton.org/)

🟢 Jitsi is a collection of free software for Internet telephony and video conferencing. Jitsi can be used browser-based, so there is no need to install a separate application. Jitsi is also available as free software for installation on your own infrastructure, but can also be rented. (https://jitsi.org/) (https://meet.jit.si/)

🟡 Microsoft Teams: In terms of data protection law, there is nothing to prevent the use of US service providers. In the case of Microsoft, however, it is urgently advisable to check and adjust the configuration of Microsoft services at admin level accordingly.

🟡 Zoom is also a US service provider. The settings for Zoom should also be checked in detail and adjusted to ensure that only necessary data is processed. 

🟡🔴 Google Meet:  The same statement applies here as with Microsoft. As already mentioned for the Gmail services, a reliable evaluation of the service is very difficult due to the lack of transparency regarding data usage.

This is just a small selection of tools that are suitable for this area. The list does not claim to be exhaustive and is not intended as a recommendation. The list merely provides an indication of the assessment from a data protection perspective. We do not receive any support from the companies listed here.

Further information 

• List of tools in the wiki of the CUMILA project:
  • German: https://wiki.cumila.eu/xwiki/wiki/wiki.cumila.eu/view/List%20of%20helpful%20tools/?language=de
  • English: https://wiki.cumila.eu/xwiki/wiki/wiki.cumila.eu/view/List%20of%20helpful%20tools/?language=en

• Further information on the German website wb-web.de, the continuing education portal for adult education: https://wb-web.de/material/interaktion/online-konferenztools.html