And now Facebook is down for me entirely.
WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
31–40 of 172 posts
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#32What does the USA do about WhatsApp? Do they really tolerate end to end encryption they cant subpoena the company for...or does the NSA have a big fat pipe into the WhatsApp data-center?
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#33Out of curiosity, what did Brazil use before WhatsApp existed? It seems strange to me that 1 app can capture such an overwhelming majority, because it's just a client, of which there have always been dozens if not hundreds.
whatsapp thrived in part due to the fact that it works on a lot of devices and in a lot of cases supported devices no one else did before their competitors.
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#34What does the USA do about WhatsApp? Do they really tolerate end to end encryption they cant subpoena the company for...or does the NSA have a big fat pipe into the WhatsApp data-center?
I think that one way or another, WhatsApp isn't foiling the NSA if the NSA doesn't feel like being foiled. Then again, they may realize what most of us do, which is that WhatsApp is not exactly a terrorist hotbed.
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#35What does the USA do about WhatsApp? Do they really tolerate end to end encryption they cant subpoena the company for...or does the NSA have a big fat pipe into the WhatsApp data-center?
I think that one way or another, WhatsApp isn't foiling the NSA if the NSA doesn't feel like being foiled. Then again, they may realize what most of us do, which is that WhatsApp is not exactly a terrorist hotbed.
NSA will simply pwn the endpoint devices of whoever they're really interested in.
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#36Out of curiosity, what did Brazil use before WhatsApp existed? It seems strange to me that 1 app can capture such an overwhelming majority, because it's just a client, of which there have always been dozens if not hundreds.
I am from Brazil
I used MSN Messenger (until MS killed and managed to kill their IM dominance), and pulled shady stunts with my phone (for example calling, saying a word, and immediately cutting connection, calling again... doing this is free for some reason).
If it was REALLY needed, I would use SMS, it was easy to make mistakes there though (a couple times I ended spending 150 USD in a month in SMS, usually in extremely stressful months where communication was essential).
The need to replace SMS was obvious, and I even had a company where I worked ask me to start researching into how to do it (this was in early 2011, I think some similar stuff already existed in US?), but this project never went anywhere.
And a technical note: doing the phone shenanigans I used to, can get you literally banned from the phone line, I was banned about 3 times (you keep your phone line, and can receive calls, but can't make any except to emergency services), but the only reason I had the phone was to do that stuff anyway (this was when I was still in school, and was the only way to communicate with my then SO, since I couldn't afford spending with real calls or SMS, because of how absurdly expensive they were... mind you, they STILL are absurdly expensive).
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#37gggggggooooooaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllll
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#38What does the USA do about WhatsApp? Do they really tolerate end to end encryption they cant subpoena the company for...or does the NSA have a big fat pipe into the WhatsApp data-center?
If the end-to-end encryption is working as designed then "a big fat pipe into the WhatsApp data-center" would be of no help.
For high enough value targets the NSA is probably happy to compromise the endpoints.
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#39> the idea that everyone in Brazil can be denied the freedom to communicate the way they want is very scary in a democracy
If companies like Facebook were not funneling everybody onto centralized platforms, it would be harder for an ISP to deny that freedom.
The centralization of communication platforms is a bigger problem than any ISP censorship. That they have a target to shutdown at all is the real issue.
Re: WhatsApp is back online in Brazil
#40Out of curiosity, what did Brazil use before WhatsApp existed? It seems strange to me that 1 app can capture such an overwhelming majority, because it's just a client, of which there have always been dozens if not hundreds.
IMHO, the biggest selling point of WhatsApp for brazilians is that it works as offline as it is possible. All received data is stored locally. Even if you're offline and send a message, it stores it locally and send it when connection becomes available. Since the majority of WhatsApp users in Brazil have access only to low quality internet connection, this becomes a major issue.
So it's not at all about privacy?
That's interesting. But it makes sense, I suppose.
It's just the vocal minority that push privacy in WhatsApp. But it is good to see Facebook supporting private communication. Apple and Facebook, who would have thought?