WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#61

Post by bb88 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:17 AM UTC

danjayh wrote: post #58

propman wrote: post #26

I don't get what changed? We've knows Facebook tracks everything, we've known Google does the same thing. If you've ever developed anything in messenger even today, it's amazing how much information is given. We know all these sites track everything you do outside of Facebook too. Everyone has been trying to get them to stop, we know it's illegal to build a profile on someone but Facebook gets around that by building…

What's more, I suspect that if this exact same thing had been done by a company working for Obama's or Hillary's campaigns, nobody would have batted an eyelash. PS - the reason that the regs wont happen during the trump years has nothing to do with the collusion investigation. He's put a mandate in place that for every reg to go into the federal register, two have to come out. His administration is in general very an…

> nobody would have batted an eyelash.

Doubtful, considering the number of scandals from this list that made major media attention:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Obama_administration_...

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#62

Post by avs733 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:18 AM UTC

With the way they create shadow profiles for non-users, I'm a strong believer that the opportunity with facebook is to feed them as much bad data as possible and let them deal with filtering it out.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#63

Post by apotheothesomai » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:19 AM UTC

iliketosleep wrote: post #31

It's quite ironic that this is the man who sold WhatsApp and its enormous userbase to facebook, creating a total lock in to the facebook ecosystem for many who do not even use facebook. He would have known what kind of a company facebook is, so I don't understand the contradiction between selling Whatsapp to them and now caring about these issues. Anyway, I am still glad he's getting behind the #deletefacebook moveme…

Jan's commitment to privacy motivated WhatsApp. Jan and Acton always have believed in it strongly.

That said, if your company has 50 people, and FB offers nearly $20B. How exactly do you tell those people that you refused an acquisition that huge, because you personally feel that FB is bad. Could you deprive an engineer who has worked his ass off for 4 years >$100M?

Anyway, I was contracting for WhatsApp, when the acquisition happened. Conversations took place, but I'm not going to quote anyone.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#64

Post by aioprisan » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:20 AM UTC

fancyfacebook wrote: post #8

walrus01 wrote: post #6

I would be very curious to learn what sort of non-disparagement clauses existed in the Whatsapp/Facebook purchase contract. And how exactly they were worded.

I don't think anyone at Facebook has the bandwidth to deal with a mean tweet from an old employee right now. If rumors are to be believed mass resignations are coming.

Facebook is the new Uber.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#65

Post by tlarkworthy » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:21 AM UTC

hnaccy wrote: post #39

I'll take it but I'm still somewhat confused about how sudden this pushback against facebook has been. What did people think they did before now...

The effect on democratic processes ceased to be hypothetical.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#66

Post by untog » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:23 AM UTC

HenryBemis wrote: post #53

skybrian wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know Google does the same thing? What can you get out of Google by writing an app? Off the top of my head, I don't think Google even has most people's friends lists (outside Orkut back in the day, and Google+, which isn't so popular). They do have contact lists in Gmail, which is a bit different. There is address book spamming via mobile apps, but again, there are permissions. How good are they? It seems l…

Google absolutely harvests all info they can get. They scan gmails, they monitorig everything on all Android phones, even when you disable something [1]. It's just that Google maybe be a bit hesitant to sell data to 3rd parties, since they abuse them themselves :) (and this is the price of a 'free' service). [1]: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/google-tracking-user-loca...

> It's just that Google maybe be a bit hesitant to sell data to 3rd parties

Which is the entire point. I know Google is taking data when I use Google products. The problem arises when Google freely gives my data to a random third party company I neither know nor trust, without my knowledge.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#67

Post by 4684499 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:24 AM UTC

skybrian wrote: post #47

propman wrote: post #26

I don't get what changed? We've knows Facebook tracks everything, we've known Google does the same thing. If you've ever developed anything in messenger even today, it's amazing how much information is given. We know all these sites track everything you do outside of Facebook too. Everyone has been trying to get them to stop, we know it's illegal to build a profile on someone but Facebook gets around that by building…

How do you know Google does the same thing? What can you get out of Google by writing an app? Off the top of my head, I don't think Google even has most people's friends lists (outside Orkut back in the day, and Google+, which isn't so popular). They do have contact lists in Gmail, which is a bit different. There is address book spamming via mobile apps, but again, there are permissions. How good are they? It seems l…

You are implying friends list is the main factor here. Let's assume you are right. Still, Google may have a database for people you might know, you just don't know its existence yet. They don't have to let you input your contacts voluntarily to find out about your relationships. For example, have you used Google Maps? You search a place, Google tells you popular time of that place, how did they get the data? If they are able to do things like that, they might also be able to know who (or which Google account) you spend time with and where, they just don't have reasons to tell you they have the data or they have deep learned the data for various purposes.

We just don't have a whistleblower to testify that they sell the data yet, possibly because they have strict internal confidentiality policies.[1]

Disclaimer, about that Google Maps example, it's just my assumption, I don't know how it actually works.

[1]: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/employee-lawsuit-acc...

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#68

Post by yters » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:25 AM UTC

HenryBemis wrote: post #53

skybrian wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know Google does the same thing? What can you get out of Google by writing an app? Off the top of my head, I don't think Google even has most people's friends lists (outside Orkut back in the day, and Google+, which isn't so popular). They do have contact lists in Gmail, which is a bit different. There is address book spamming via mobile apps, but again, there are permissions. How good are they? It seems l…

Google absolutely harvests all info they can get. They scan gmails, they monitorig everything on all Android phones, even when you disable something [1]. It's just that Google maybe be a bit hesitant to sell data to 3rd parties, since they abuse them themselves :) (and this is the price of a 'free' service). [1]: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/google-tracking-user-loca...

Arguably Google can create a pretty good social network from email. That's why the use it for ads.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#69

Post by meri_dian » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:27 AM UTC

As has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the vast majority of people really don't care what data Facebook collects. Addresses, phone numbers, etc are all publicly available already. Products you like, your political affiliations, etc, not a big deal to most people, not because they aren't aware, but because they don't care.

So ask yourselves, if the vast majority don't care, perhaps it's not really that big of a deal.

And maybe, just maybe, Cambridge Analytica has a target painted on its back because it helped get Trump elected, and we're being manipulated into hating them now by media that is engaged in all out war with the Trump administration.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#70

Post by spacehome » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:28 AM UTC

propman wrote: post #26

I don't get what changed? We've knows Facebook tracks everything, we've known Google does the same thing. If you've ever developed anything in messenger even today, it's amazing how much information is given. We know all these sites track everything you do outside of Facebook too. Everyone has been trying to get them to stop, we know it's illegal to build a profile on someone but Facebook gets around that by building…

> Regulations

Is more government the solution to every problem? Just let people make their choice of whether the product Facebook offers is worth the privacy tradeoff.