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

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#91

Post by skosch » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:51 AM UTC

4684499 wrote: post #67

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…

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…

If you have Google Maps running on your phone with data and GPS on, the app will explicitly ask you about your experience in whatever place you're visiting at that moment. I have friends who enthusiastically respond to those notifications every time, arguing that the information will help other users. More people than you think are happy to share more than passive metadata.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#92

Post by 4684499 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:51 AM UTC

skybrian wrote: post #82

4684499 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

So you're saying they have lots of personal data (nobody is disputing this). If they have the data, and they let someone else have access to it, it could leak. Which, sure, makes sense. But that's not the same as "know[ing] Google does the same thing" unless you define either "know" or "the same thing" very loosely.

You are right. Basically what I'm trying to say is they could do the same thing regardless whether they have your friends lists or not.

Indeed, I don't know if Google does the same thing.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#93

Post by jsmthrowaway » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:51 AM UTC

hodl wrote: post #78

jimmy1 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Daniel Solove eloquently states the problems with the "I have nothing to hide" argument in this famous paper now turned book https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=...

I've not read t but guessing its similar to why you shouldn't speak to police without a lawyer even if "I done nothing wrong". Because you will probably say something they can use against you regardless.

Which is a dangerous family of opinions to apply without fully understanding them, as asking for a lawyer when they’re at your door inquiring about a missing neighborhood kid is probably counterproductive and escalates attention on you unnecessarily. It’s a fine opinion when common sense is involved. I don’t have a problem with the sentiment, just watching people who digest YouTube and shout “where’s your probable cause” at the poor guy looking for gypsy moths at the California border.

(Yes, I’ve seen that on 50 in Tahoe.)

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#94

Post by sn41 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:53 AM UTC

I guess maybe it is time to re-evaluate Web 2.0? User-generated content was supposed to be empowering.

But we have ignored the powerful amplifying effects of positive feedback and "echo chambers" artificially induced by such "customised news".

Maybe it is a bad idea to present customised news, what we need are diverse views. Maybe it is a bad idea to tack on voting systems and like buttons with every comment and tweet.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#95

Post by kyrra » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:53 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...

Google stopped scanning emails 9 months ago[0].

[0] https://blog.google/products/gmail/g-suite-gains-traction-in...

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#96

Post by paulcole » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:53 AM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #27

matte_black wrote: post #15

Don’t let billionaires tell you what to do.

the whatsapp cofounders strike me as accidental billionaires, it's not like we're talking about standard oil, jp morgan, the louis dreyfus company or a typical old money davos-attendee billionaire.

>accidental billionaires

Not sure if you were being clever but that’s the title of a book about Facebook’s history.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#97

Post by jakear » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:53 AM UTC

fareesh wrote: post #86

Despite the barrage of negative stories that would have ended nearly every other Presidential campaign - ranging from accusations of racism, misogyny, treason, incompetence, mental instability - despite all of it, tens of millions of Americans absolutely love President Trump. I cannot imagine how utterly frustrating it must be for them to watch the media bounce from story after story in some convoluted attempt to exp…

One note: fair and square by your interpretation of "fair", maybe. But the country as a whole uses its laws to interpret fair, and the important allegations are that the Trump campaign broke those laws by directly communicating with this agency.

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#98

Post by ggg9990 » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:56 AM UTC

fareesh wrote: post #86

Despite the barrage of negative stories that would have ended nearly every other Presidential campaign - ranging from accusations of racism, misogyny, treason, incompetence, mental instability - despite all of it, tens of millions of Americans absolutely love President Trump. I cannot imagine how utterly frustrating it must be for them to watch the media bounce from story after story in some convoluted attempt to exp…

I mean, I know why people love him too — he is entertaining as fuck and if you’re too poor or too rich to be affected by government policy, who gives a shit about the president?

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#99

Post by djsumdog » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:56 AM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #12

gnicholas wrote: post #11

If we use Twitter to announce that people should #deletefacebook, what social network do we use in the event that it becomes necessary to #deletetwitter?

you ssh into your own trusted openbsd system, run bitchx and connect to efnet, just like the good lord intended back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth. i am only partially sarcastic here.

I do miss the mad west of the IRC/NNTP days. I also miss multiple search engines. Yahoo/Lycos/Hotbot/Dogpile/AltaVista all give you different results and you could have fun searching around.

The current Internet is a monoculture

Re: WhatsApp co-founder tells everyone to delete Facebook

#100

Post by spacehome » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 2:56 AM UTC

rhcom2 wrote: post #72

spacehome wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

What if you can't judge the privacy tradeoff because it's a complete black box?

Nothing black box about it. If you send data to a company, they have that data.