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WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

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Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#31

Post by wmkn »

TheCapn wrote: post #28
matthewmacleod wrote: post #20

I'm like 99% certain they've been doing this for a while. I've noticed that anybody I talk to using WhatsApp quickly appears as a suggested contact on Facebook. As far as I'm aware, I did nothing to enable this. It does seem awfully creepy, but I guess if you care about privacy you're not using Facebook much anyway…

How creepy Facebook is finally clicked for me after I gave my neighbor my phone number once moving to a new neighborhood. You know... in case my house lights on fire or something while I'm out. That night Facebook was suggesting I add my elderly neighbors as friends. We have 0 friends in common and I don't have Facebook installed on my phone (I just use the browser) so the only excuse I have is when they added me the…

I am pretty sure Facebook also makes a friend suggestion to you when the other person searched for your name or looked at your profile at any time in the past. Maybe your neighbor searched for your name after you gave your phone number to them.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#32

Post by mattnewton »

webwanderings wrote: post #7

They're Facebook's property. They have all the rights to grab whatever the heck they can find on you, to slice and dice the data for their advantage. Stay two miles apart from their properties, if you do not wish to be touched.

I never was on whatsapp, but I can imagine signing up for a property pre-aquisition and then being powerless to stop more of my data being sucked up by Facebook. Is the only solution to never sign up for a service without a privacy policy that lets you remove your data from the company in the event of a sale? I don't think I have ever seen such a clause..

It's not that I don't want any of my data in Facebook, that's more trouble than it's worth. It's that I don't want every detail of my life collated in one place. regardless of what that place is.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#33

Post by akerro »

rvschuilenburg wrote: post #14
kallu wrote: post #3

What's the big deal?

WhatsApp has always said to take user privacy seriously. It's been one of their arguments of being a subscription-based app instead of free when they were not owned by Facebook yet: they didn't want to show any ads. Now, this pretty much sums it up: > Another change is potentially more controversial: WhatsApp says it will begin "coordinating" accounts with Facebook by sharing WhatsApp users' mobile phone numbers and…

>WhatsApp has always said to take user privacy seriously.

and google has always said 'Don't be evil' lol

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#34

Post by kirkdouglas »

Natales wrote: post #25

Facebook paid a boat load of cash for WhatsApp. Why did you think they did it? out of the goodness of their heart? It's a business, people! and if you are not paying for it, their revenue stream must come from somewhere else. You are the product as much as the user. Get over it. If you don't like it, don't use it. Use Signal instead, which I do, and it's great. There are also alternatives like Wire, which is really g…

They removed paid subscription several months ago. It seems that they can make more money from matching WhatsApp and Facebook social graphs than from annual subscription.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#35

Post by nathanvanfleet »

I'm quite certain that maybe Apple has been doing this for a while as well. I can't seem to find any setting allowing FB to access my contacts but somehow people I've only texted, called or communicated over email are showing as suggestions too. But I'm not certain since they might have just cyber-stalked me.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#37

Post by abluecloud »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #20

I'm like 99% certain they've been doing this for a while. I've noticed that anybody I talk to using WhatsApp quickly appears as a suggested contact on Facebook. As far as I'm aware, I did nothing to enable this. It does seem awfully creepy, but I guess if you care about privacy you're not using Facebook much anyway…

It 100% is. Theres someone i've NEVER spoken to in my life other than over whatsapp, they know noone I know and yet they popped up on my suggested friends list.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#38

Post by azdle »

nathanvanfleet wrote: post #35

I'm quite certain that maybe Apple has been doing this for a while as well. I can't seem to find any setting allowing FB to access my contacts but somehow people I've only texted, called or communicated over email are showing as suggestions too. But I'm not certain since they might have just cyber-stalked me.

Could it be that those other people are sharing that info to facebook? They only need one side to allow sharing contacts to find the connection.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#39

Post by triplesec »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #20

I'm like 99% certain they've been doing this for a while. I've noticed that anybody I talk to using WhatsApp quickly appears as a suggested contact on Facebook. As far as I'm aware, I did nothing to enable this. It does seem awfully creepy, but I guess if you care about privacy you're not using Facebook much anyway…

The facebook app prefers to sync your contacts with it in your phone. ?You do get the choice not to, but it certainly was a dark pattern at one point, and persistent.

Re: WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

#40

Post by pooper »

dingaling wrote: post #24
Jordrok wrote: post #12

This is why using phone numbers as account identifiers is a bad idea. (For the users, at least. Not necessarily for the companies who want to own those users.)

My wife, who is rather dedicated about keeping away from Facebook, ordered a new pay-as-you-go SIM for use in an old Android phone specifically and only for WhatsApp. It seemed a bit of an expensive tactic, having to top-up with an initial £10, but now I realise she was quite prescient.

Does she still have that number? If not, will the new owner get WhatsApp messages sent to her if they use WhatsApp?
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