31–40 of 102 posts
Whatsup was sharing info with Facebook months ago. I remember seeing a Watchapp contact as a friend recommendation on my Facebook profile. Other than that Whatsapp contact, we have nothing in common, no other way Facebook could have picked it up.
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So doesn't that make that position downright dangerous? As a 3rd party to this argument, now I agree with the other guy. edit: to clarify I mean I should join the opt-out side to help stop it from becoming socially unacceptable
The Facebook/WhatsApp hegemony really is dangerous in that aspect. It grew from 'just social media' into something that is starting to usurp communication that used to take place via open platforms. In the Netherlands one of the largest banks (ING) even stopped supporting communication with its customers via email, suggesting the use of Twitter or WhatsApp instead for digital communication. It is perfectly possible n…
Either way, it's time to switch banks. And it's a good thing that you told me about it, as in Romania we also have ING and was considering then for my business account.
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In my opinion, you're a monster if you impose using a certain product on your environment.
Yes, and that's what you do if you, knowing 99.9999% of people use whatsapp, force your friends/family to install something else. So, use whatsapp, and don't be a monster.
I will double check, but I think the setup and configuration is already complete for most people's phones, so no additional install needed.
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Yes, and that's what you do if you, knowing 99.9999% of people use whatsapp, force your friends/family to install something else. So, use whatsapp, and don't be a monster.
Nobody I know uses whatsapp. Everyone has this thing called a phone they run whatsapp on, I assume you can ask for this weird old thing called a phone number. I will double check, but I think the setup and configuration is already complete for most people's phones, so no additional install needed.
Whatsup was sharing info with Facebook months ago. I remember seeing a Watchapp contact as a friend recommendation on my Facebook profile. Other than that Whatsapp contact, we have nothing in common, no other way Facebook could have picked it up.
If you've granted contacts permission to the Facebook app, it could've identified using the phone number.
In the UK, where I have to pay money for media messaging and international SMS, WhatsApp is great. It's ad policy was something of its appeal that allowed me to see past the lock-in to one vendor.
I don't get the problem. If you don't trust them why don't you just stop using them? It's not like it's a government spying program you're being forced into and it's not like there aren't a gazillions chat apps alternatives. Also the intersection of people who use whatsapp and have no Facebook already on their phone with access to contacts must be pretty small so not sure this change is as controversial as claimed in…
OK, so then your phone number is still being shared with Facebook through people who use WhatsApp and have you in their contact list. How do you opt out of that?
There are some Internet 'outrages' that are just sound and fury, but this one has merit. A company that gained access to one of people's most private networks, their contact list, on a guarantee of privacy that has been unilaterally revoked. People were gladly paying to maintain the service and the associated level of privacy.
Thankfully the ICO in the UK is 'outraged' enough to formally investigate:
https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-bl...
Why we don't sell ads (2012) https://blog.whatsapp.com/245/Why-we-dont-sell-ads ?
As far as I can tell, WhatsApp never said they would show ads in their app, and they never said they would sell ads.
On the contrary, they said that they would make it even harder for them to have any data to work with, as messages will be end-to-end encrypted, and so, undecipherable for them.
What they said would happen was telephone and metadata (ie, telephone contacts) cross-references with Facebook's data to improve Facebook's suggestions, which is a roundabout but logical non-automatic contact synchronization scheme.
Reading between the lines, what their blog post was meant to prepare the public for was the arrival of a bot API (as yet secret, and a pure speculation on my part). They want businesses both global and local to communicate with you:
> we want to explore ways for you to communicate with businesses that matter to you too, while still giving you an experience without third-party banner ads and spam
WhatsApp's PR department did a poor job, in my opinion, by talking about Facebook being able to offer better ads, since naturally everyone assumes it means transmitting your telephone number to advertisers, which they awkwardly mention they would not do:
> We won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including on Facebook, and we still won't sell, share, or give your phone number to advertisers.
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What did we really expect? That they were going to support a 1 billion user app as a public good? The writing was on the wall when they dropped the 79 pence per year fee
I think that it's a good reminder that all the sentiment in the world is meaningless in the face of changing ownership and/or business realities. See also Instapaper + Pinterest. Edit - Also a reminder to founders: If you want your vision for the company to survive, don't sell it !