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WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

blog.whatsapp.com

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Re: WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

#21

Post by jhasse »

ultramancool wrote: post #4
mcpherrinm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be much more nervous about Telegram getting that data.

It's a toss up: - WhatsApp uses reputable cryptography from reputable sources, but combines it with a UI so much designed for ease of use that it throws out the possibility of real security - Telegram uses extremely questionable cryptography to begin with from people who probably shouldn't be designing cryptosystems If you want real security, go use Signal or better, OTR where socialist millionaire's is still an opti…

Also WhatsApp is closed-source, but Telegram's client is open-source.

Re: WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

#22

Post by masklinn »

mintplant wrote: post #5

> Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organizations that you want to hear from. That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight. Sounds a lot like what WeChat has been doing in China with their Official Accounts. Best explanation I could find quickly: http://kn…

> Sounds a lot like what WeChat has been doing in China with their Official Accounts.

Or Line, not sure which one was the first.

Re: WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

#24

Post by janpieterz »

ultramancool wrote: post #4
mcpherrinm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be much more nervous about Telegram getting that data.

It's a toss up: - WhatsApp uses reputable cryptography from reputable sources, but combines it with a UI so much designed for ease of use that it throws out the possibility of real security - Telegram uses extremely questionable cryptography to begin with from people who probably shouldn't be designing cryptosystems If you want real security, go use Signal or better, OTR where socialist millionaire's is still an opti…

I've read up a while ago on the questionable cryptography (not an expert in that at all myself) but couldn't find a lot of actual substance. Certainly with claims [0] [1] being that Telegram offers nice sums for breaking it, which gives me as a consumer the idea that someone who actually knows this stuff would love to hit that down, if it was something in my area of expertise offering that I'd love to try and hit it.

I get that it might all be some kind of cheat, but an actual cryptography researcher publishing that it is would, obviously, get a lot of bad karma going in the HN circles (for example) about these contests.

[0] https://telegram.org/blog/winter-contest-ends

[1] https://telegram.org/blog/cryptocontest-ends

Re: WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

#26

Post by ultramancool »

sayhar wrote: post #9
ultramancool wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a toss up: - WhatsApp uses reputable cryptography from reputable sources, but combines it with a UI so much designed for ease of use that it throws out the possibility of real security - Telegram uses extremely questionable cryptography to begin with from people who probably shouldn't be designing cryptosystems If you want real security, go use Signal or better, OTR where socialist millionaire's is still an opti…

> OTR where socialist millionaire's is still an option for key verification. Can you explain the socialist millionaire comment? I don't get it.

Other people already linked the wikipedia article, but basically the thing it allows for is verification of a key without trust of it and provides effective proof you're not being MITM'd.

I can ask a question or a series of questions to my friend and we can use zero knowledge proofs to determine we're talking about the same answer to verify his key without disclosing anything about that answer.

Re: WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

#27

Post by ultramancool »

janpieterz wrote: post #24
ultramancool wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a toss up: - WhatsApp uses reputable cryptography from reputable sources, but combines it with a UI so much designed for ease of use that it throws out the possibility of real security - Telegram uses extremely questionable cryptography to begin with from people who probably shouldn't be designing cryptosystems If you want real security, go use Signal or better, OTR where socialist millionaire's is still an opti…

I've read up a while ago on the questionable cryptography (not an expert in that at all myself) but couldn't find a lot of actual substance. Certainly with claims [0] [1] being that Telegram offers nice sums for breaking it, which gives me as a consumer the idea that someone who actually knows this stuff would love to hit that down, if it was something in my area of expertise offering that I'd love to try and hit it.…

https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1177.pdf

Re: WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees

#28

Post by pkd »

ronnier wrote: post #8

I don't like that WhatsApp is tied to my phone number.

FWIW, this was my biggest gripe with it too. I did not start using WhatsApp till 2014 while all of my friends had already switched a couple of years back. I was happy with Facebook messenger, but i was forced to switch to be in the loop. Although since Facebook messenger also needs your number to verify the phone, if I remember correctly, it hardly matters.

I have recently made the switch to Signal[1], and made my partner switch too. It's been a blessing.

[1] https://whispersystems.org/

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