In light of the €15.9m fine issued by the European Commission to International Flavors & Fragrances Inc and International Flavors & Fragrances France SAS (IFF), it is worth examining the extent to which WhatsApp is used in business today and the risks involved, particularly in the tenant onboarding process.

Taking a step back to 2020 and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the lines between employees’ work and private lives became blurred. The use of personal devices and consumer tools like WhatsApp at work became commonplace—and, in many cases, necessary. Tools widely used by consumers often find their way into the business arena—whether by stealth or design—and given WhatsApp’s ubiquity, it’s inevitable that employees might replicate their personal WhatsApp usage in a work situation. However, the use of WhatsApp for business, especially tenant onboarding, comes with significant risks.

While using WhatsApp for internal communications poses its own challenges, the focus here is on its use for communicating with tenants during onboarding and the potential dangers this practice introduces. Before diving into the risks, it’s important to acknowledge that WhatsApp does come with some advantages for tenant communication, which we’ll examine first.

Advantages of WhatsApp for Tenant Communication

• Convenience: WhatsApp is convenient for both businesses and tenants. It’s a messaging tool that most people are familiar with, requiring no additional downloads or training. On the surface, tenant communications and onboarding can appear seamless when conducted through WhatsApp.
• WhatsApp Business Features: Launched in 2018, WhatsApp Business offers features to help companies manage communications more effectively, such as:
  • Automated responses
  • Message templates
  • Labels for organization
• WhatsApp Security Credentials: WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption and is built with GDPR compliance in mind.
• WhatsApp API: The availability of the WhatsApp API allows businesses to integrate WhatsApp with existing systems, providing added flexibility for enterprise workflows.

Risks of WhatsApp for Tenant Communication and Onboarding

While the benefits are clear, WhatsApp comes with significant risks when used for tenant onboarding.

• Security Risks: Despite WhatsApp’s encryption capabilities, its vast user base—close to 3 billion—makes it an attractive target for hackers and scammers. Threats like social engineering, spyware, call forwarding, and web hacking pose serious security challenges.
• Compliance Issues: WhatsApp for Business is GDPR-compliant in its design, but compliance can easily be compromised during actual usage. Tenant conversations containing personal or sensitive data can be difficult to store, archive, or purge in line with GDPR regulations. WhatsApp lacks essential features like audit logs or auto-purge options, increasing the risk of non-compliance.
• Scalability Challenges: When using WhatsApp to collect tenant documents and sensitive information during onboarding, scalability becomes an issue. Without proper processes, tenant data can end up scattered across multiple WhatsApp conversations, making it nearly impossible to audit or retrieve specific information during a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR).

Protect Your Business and Streamline Tenant Onboarding

Weighing the pros and cons of WhatsApp for tenant onboarding reveals that the risks outweigh the benefits. Security breaches and non-compliance with data protection regulations can result in massive fines, loss of revenue, and damage to your company’s reputation.

TenantFunnel

TenantFunnel offers a secure, GDPR-compliant alternative to WhatsApp for tenant communications and onboarding. With TenantFunnel, businesses can communicate with tenants in an on-brand, professional manner while ensuring data privacy and compliance. Our flexible, API-driven platform allows property managers to design bespoke tenant onboarding and KYC workflows that meet the needs of today’s fast-paced rental market.

If your company is at risk due to reliance on WhatsApp for tenant communication, reach out to TenantFunnel today to safeguard and streamline your tenant onboarding process.