Author Topic: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.  (Read 8399 times)

Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« on: 07 January, 2021, 02:37:40 pm »
https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/06/whatsapp_terms_change/


https://twitter.com/mikebutcher/status/1346959937679798274?s=20


I don't have a facebook account but do have Whatsapp on my phone & desktop as its the preferred messaging format for a friend who spends lots of time in Amsterdam & doesn't want to pay for international SMS messages. 
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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #1 on: 07 January, 2021, 08:00:57 pm »
I'm fairly sure they were doing that already. Often an item would be mentioned in a WhatsApp convo and I'd get start getting related ads popping up on my feed.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #2 on: 07 January, 2021, 09:09:20 pm »
Towards the end of the first link, there's this:-
Quote
On Twitter, Niamh Sweeney, director of policy for WhatsApp in EMEA, added that, for netizens in the European Region, "There are no changes to WhatsApp's data-sharing practices in Europe arising from this update. It remains the case that WhatsApp does not share European Region WhatsApp user data with Facebook for the purpose of Facebook using this data to improve its products or ads.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #3 on: 07 January, 2021, 09:40:53 pm »
Are we in the UK still in this European region?? Otherwise I'm going to purge WhatsApp from my phone. I do not use Facebook.

Jaded

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #4 on: 07 January, 2021, 11:20:58 pm »
There are alternatives.

Two of them use way, way less data than Whatspoo. Actually three, but the third is Messages on iOS/OSX1
FaceAche bought Whatspoo.
There can only be one reason for that. If you can think of another (good) reason, please say

I'm currently reversing out of WhatsApp. If groups I'm in with don't change, I'll not be in their group anymore. Simples.
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #5 on: 07 January, 2021, 11:51:18 pm »
I tried to avoid it because it insisted on access to my phone's contacts. That's other people's personal data that I have no legal right to give away. It should be able to work by using contacts that I give it. But I had to cave in because those same contacts insisted that I use it.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #6 on: 13 January, 2021, 09:35:59 am »
I’m on Signal which works great and does everything WhatsApp does, except collect data on you. End to end encryption and does not collect meta data on your conversations

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #7 on: 13 January, 2021, 11:14:03 am »
I have deleted Whats app and moved to Signal along with lots of others, apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkgKDRx2k2o
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Kim

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #8 on: 13 January, 2021, 01:10:25 pm »
Signal seems mostly un-annoying.  And it's open source, so you're not at the future whim of some advertising company.   :thumbsup:

Note that if you're seriously concerned about privacy, rather than just not wanting to hand all your data to advertisers, the Android keyboard is a potential gaping security hole.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #9 on: 13 January, 2021, 07:30:42 pm »
So, is Signal the collective's recommendation?

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #10 on: 13 January, 2021, 07:53:47 pm »
Towards the end of the first link, there's this:-
Quote
On Twitter, Niamh Sweeney, director of policy for WhatsApp in EMEA, added that, for netizens in the European Region, "There are no changes to WhatsApp's data-sharing practices in Europe arising from this update. It remains the case that WhatsApp does not share European Region WhatsApp user data with Facebook for the purpose of Facebook using this data to improve its products or ads.

So it does share data, for other purposes.

Karla

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #11 on: 13 January, 2021, 07:55:48 pm »
So, is Signal the collective's recommendation?

They sold WhatsApp its encryption if that helps.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #12 on: 13 January, 2021, 08:13:04 pm »
Signal is the EU's recommended messaging prog for public services.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Valiant

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #13 on: 14 January, 2021, 02:24:28 pm »
Signal is good, there's also Telegram which has a nicer UI
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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #14 on: 14 January, 2021, 02:26:54 pm »
Telegram isn't secure by default though, and even if you enable many of the secure bits the technology underpinning it is very questionable.

https://twitter.com/esultanik/status/1129026682260721666?lang=en

I have it installed (some people I know swear by it) but I wouldn't touch it for anything that I wouldn't post publicly on a forum like this.
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Valiant

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #15 on: 14 January, 2021, 03:47:50 pm »
Telegram isn't secure by default though, and even if you enable many of the secure bits the technology underpinning it is very questionable.

https://twitter.com/esultanik/status/1129026682260721666?lang=en

I have it installed (some people I know swear by it) but I wouldn't touch it for anything that I wouldn't post publicly on a forum like this.
Fair, I didn't realise it wasn't as secure. I was amused by the group by location which for me basically shows the local church group, the local drug dealer, the pub and some "massage" services lol
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

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Kim

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #16 on: 16 January, 2021, 12:15:44 am »
Signal appear to be having some scalability issues, which is hardly surprising given the rate of growth: https://twitter.com/signalapp/status/1350118809860886528

Karla

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #17 on: 16 January, 2021, 12:22:08 am »
It's fun in a nerdy kinda way watching to see who is suddenly appearing in my contacts list on there.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #18 on: 16 January, 2021, 06:39:34 am »
An article in the Guardian today gave me the distinct impression that the sudden panic over whattsapp is a little exagerrated. It is still encryted end to end etc.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/16/should-you-keep-using-whatsapp-plus-five-tips-to-start-the-year-with-your-digital-privacy-intact

Besides, I'm not sure why anybody thinks that anything they send electronically isn't readable by those with the right kit. Always has been.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #19 on: 16 January, 2021, 07:18:00 am »
Signal appear to be having some scalability issues, which is hardly surprising given the rate of growth: https://twitter.com/signalapp/status/1350118809860886528

Give it a few years and Signal will be the new Whattsapp.

This move to Signal mirrors to original exodus to Whattsapp.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #20 on: 16 January, 2021, 10:15:59 am »
It’s not the chat content that’s the problem, it’s the other stuff like your heart rate, of at least that’s what the voices in my head told me.
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #21 on: 16 January, 2021, 11:03:17 am »
Well, I now have both Wotzap and Signal on my phone.  So I haven't gained anything.

Mr Larrington

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #22 on: 16 January, 2021, 11:18:32 am »
Today's news, c/o The New York Times: WhatsApp Delays Privacy Changes Amid User Backlash

Facebook says it will delay the privacy update from 8th February; it will now take effect on 15th May.

Translation: we'll wait until everyone has forgotten about it then do what we were planning anyway.
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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #23 on: 16 January, 2021, 11:23:35 am »
One WhatsApp group I'm in considered moving to Signal but they seem to have dropped the idea now. I think their concerns were as much anti-monopolistic as security and as Signal is, I understand, owned by Elon Musk, this might not represent much of an improvement.

But what's changed anyway? What data do they have and what do they do with it? Phone number and messages obviously. I can't remember whether they "officially" have your email, but it seems sensible to assume they have access to everything that passes through your phone and could, if they wanted, trace your last bike ride more accurately than Strava and replay your last voice call. I suppose there's an argument that it's better for both Musk and Zuckerberg to have this data on the grounds that monopoly is more harmful than competition...
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Clare

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Re: Change to Whatsapp T&C's - all data to be shared with Facebook.
« Reply #24 on: 16 January, 2021, 11:34:55 am »
i thought that Signal is a NFP foundation set up by a couple of people and run by the two founders and another bod none of whom are Elon Musk.