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With modern Android's anti-spam features, I can even dodge spam calls to my phone, so this is not a problem for me.
EDIT: Practical example. After collecting enough data about user X I create a table about the probability of this user being online in a given few-minutes time ranges. Then I check the online frequency of that user compared to the online statuses of another user Y. If the difference compared to the expected probability is significant, than I can suspect the two are chatting.
Another thing I can use is that attivation delay of the online status, since often X sends a message to Y and this results in, a few seconds after, Y to be online, and then the contrary.
The initial website display comes from a QR code you can on your phone, which the website then gets authorized by. Could they not then limit queries to that account?
I could be way off the mark, but it seems to me like the worst of this could be mitigated quite easily without much loss in functionality for users?
If you think there is no problem, you are wrong. The blog post does not show all the information leaks that this implies. Example: I can modify the script to monitor all the numbers I've in my phone, so that based on the online/offline status in a few weeks I can be able to guess who is having conversations together, discovering cheatings, work affairs, ... EDIT: Practical example. After collecting enough data about…
Edit: On the other hand it would perhaps be better to have it on 'Contacts only' as the default, but you could still monitor your colleagues as they probably have you in their contacts anyway.
If you think there is no problem, you are wrong. The blog post does not show all the information leaks that this implies. Example: I can modify the script to monitor all the numbers I've in my phone, so that based on the online/offline status in a few weeks I can be able to guess who is having conversations together, discovering cheatings, work affairs, ... EDIT: Practical example. After collecting enough data about…
But you are voluntarily giving that info away if you use WA and don't change your privacy settings. The 'last online' feature is quite important IMO, and if you're concerned about this then disable it. Edit: On the other hand it would perhaps be better to have it on 'Contacts only' as the default, but you could still monitor your colleagues as they probably have you in their contacts anyway.
If you think there is no problem, you are wrong. The blog post does not show all the information leaks that this implies. Example: I can modify the script to monitor all the numbers I've in my phone, so that based on the online/offline status in a few weeks I can be able to guess who is having conversations together, discovering cheatings, work affairs, ... EDIT: Practical example. After collecting enough data about…
But you are voluntarily giving that info away if you use WA and don't change your privacy settings. The 'last online' feature is quite important IMO, and if you're concerned about this then disable it. Edit: On the other hand it would perhaps be better to have it on 'Contacts only' as the default, but you could still monitor your colleagues as they probably have you in their contacts anyway.
I think this shows how some seemingly trivial data points on an individual level can allow one to build something way more than the sum of parts at a mass surveillance level.
Man, my public GitHub profile ties my email address to my photograph. And that stuff is also in each of my public commits. With modern Android's anti-spam features, I can even dodge spam calls to my phone, so this is not a problem for me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But you are voluntarily giving that info away if you use WA and don't change your privacy settings. The 'last online' feature is quite important IMO, and if you're concerned about this then disable it. Edit: On the other hand it would perhaps be better to have it on 'Contacts only' as the default, but you could still monitor your colleagues as they probably have you in their contacts anyway.
I agree but I don't believe the average user realizes that it is possible to do that with the above data. And indeed, to do that manually is not practical, but if the info becomes scriptable, it's another matter.
Edit: Discovered that one can share only with "My Contacts" these information. I am surprised I haven't seen this before or maybe the if you do not share, you cannot see info box misguided me into not restricting to my contacts these informations.
Man, my public GitHub profile ties my email address to my photograph. And that stuff is also in each of my public commits. With modern Android's anti-spam features, I can even dodge spam calls to my phone, so this is not a problem for me.
What is the point of your comment? That it isn't a problem for you so therefore it shouldn't be a problem for the remaining billion of WhatsApp users?