Data protection for private individuals in Switzerland

Messenger

Wire and data protection

Published: 2 November 2026

Wire is provided by Wire Swiss GmbH in Zug; development takes place mainly in Berlin. Since 2024, the German Schwarz Group has held a stake as an investor. Wire is aimed above all at companies and authorities, but still offers a free version for private individuals.

In brief

  • Everything end-to-end encrypted: messages, calls and files, with no option to turn encryption off. Wire uses the open MLS standard, which it helped to develop.
  • No phone number required: to create an account you need a username, a display name and an email address.
  • Swiss provider: Wire Swiss GmbH is responsible for data processing; its privacy policy is based on the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and the GDPR.
  • Open source: the apps and servers are publicly viewable.

What you should bear in mind

  • Focus on business customers: the personal version still exists, but new features are developed mainly for companies. There is no guarantee how long the free version will be available.
  • Some metadata: according to its privacy policy, Wire stores, among other things, the time and IP address of registration and information about your devices. Messages are stored temporarily in encrypted form and deleted once delivered.
  • Less widespread: few people use Wire in their private lives.

How to set up Wire in a privacy-friendly way

The labels may differ slightly depending on the app version.

  1. Email address instead of phone number: register with an email address and share your username rather than your contact details.
  2. Turn on the app lock: Settings → Account → App lock (passcode or biometrics).
  3. Check your devices: Settings → Devices. Remove devices you no longer use, and compare device fingerprints with your important contacts.
  4. Read receipts: turn them off under Settings → Account → Privacy if you wish.
  5. Self-deleting messages: set them for each conversation in the chat menu.
  6. Don’t upload your contacts: don’t give the app access to your address book if you don’t need to.

Further reading

Sources

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