What backlash? If they'd seen any noticeable backlash they wouldn't be going ahead.
WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
61–70 of 303 posts
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#62Meanwhile I've switched my family and friend to Signal with great success.
I installed Signal recently, but was flabbergasted when it advised me to connect with someone they found in my phone contacts who has recently joined Signal. WTF? If I knew that my contacts were being shared with a 3rd party (Signal), I would never have signed up.
Still, better Signal than Facebook, I guess. :-/
P.S.: if I'm missing something and the check was done in privacy-conscious way, I would love to be corrected.
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#63Meanwhile I've switched my family and friend to Signal with great success.
the audio/video calling on Signal seems pretty unreliable. Other than that it's been a smooth move.
From what I remember reading a while back, Signal uses a couple constant bitrates (Basically just high or low I think) to remove even more metadata about your calls and prevent metadata fingerprinting. It's a performance/privacy tradeoff, but it goes to show just how seriously they incorporate cryptographic security into the apps design.
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#64I'm so disappointed in this. Whatsapp is a functional tool. It was successful since it worked. Facebook has entirely failed to utilise it - to allow external systems to connect in so that businesses can do business on there. The voice calls are also a disaster. They've now come along to start messing with the privacy to start selling ads. It is insane that they're able to make such a mess of this. Is there a word for…
FTC sued Facebook for illegal monopolization over this. For some reason, Zuckerberg does not care. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/12/ftc-s... >Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy—including its 2012 acquisition of up-and-coming rival Instagram, its 2014 acquisition of the mobile messaging app WhatsApp, and the imposition of anticompetitive conditions on software developers—to eliminate t…
> When FB bought WhatsApp and Instagram they made explicit promises to regulators not to do this in order to get permission
Do you have copy of those legal binding promises?
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
People aren’t going to pay for simple services like WhatsApp in 2021. It’s as simple as that. Tech people with a high degree of suspicion and high disposable income are the exception. Even within that group, most people won’t put their money where their mouth is when given the option.
How much money is it? I remember WhatsApp being £1/year, or something like that.
yes but was that enough to cover the costs even then?
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#66A question to anyone that already made the jump away from Whatsapp: Do people that used to msg me still see my entry in their own accounts list, after I closed it? And if they do, do they get notified if still sending msgs there, or are these just shown as forever unread?
My experience with people from my own contacts disappearing is you'll still be on their contacts list and their messages will go into a black hole. If they're paying attention they will notice that all of your details, including your picture, will revert to whatever they have stored in their phone contacts list (which might be nothing).
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
The ARPU that Facebook can make is higher than the average price people are willing to pay to get access to whatsapp. That's all, dont look further
People aren’t going to pay for simple services like WhatsApp in 2021. It’s as simple as that. Tech people with a high degree of suspicion and high disposable income are the exception. Even within that group, most people won’t put their money where their mouth is when given the option.
Exactly, free is akin to an addictive drug that we as a society have a hard time weaning off of. Strong regulation could dig us out, don't know what else could.
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#68I'm so disappointed in this. Whatsapp is a functional tool. It was successful since it worked. Facebook has entirely failed to utilise it - to allow external systems to connect in so that businesses can do business on there. The voice calls are also a disaster. They've now come along to start messing with the privacy to start selling ads. It is insane that they're able to make such a mess of this. Is there a word for…
I agree with you completely, but “Most of us paid some money for the app”: I didn’t know it was possible to pay for WhatsApp. On what platforms does it cost money?
The app on Android has always been free. Sometimes it asked 1 Euro to keep working. I always ignored it. I should also have had to setup payment on Google Play as I never bought an app or anything there. I remember that it stopped working for a few days at least once but Whatsapp was not as important as it is now. I waited and it welcomed me back again. Did I see their bluff?
If they'd start asking for money now there will be a mass migration to any other free service. We did it many times with instant messengers on PCs in the 90s and the early 2000s. People ponders about $10 vs $9 but they take no time moving from $1 to free.
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#69Meanwhile I've switched my family and friend to Signal with great success.
I installed Signal recently, but was flabbergasted when it advised me to connect with someone they found in my phone contacts who has recently joined Signal. WTF? If I knew that my contacts were being shared with a 3rd party (Signal), I would never have signed up. Still, better Signal than Facebook, I guess. :-/ P.S.: if I'm missing something and the check was done in privacy-conscious way, I would love to be correct…
> If I knew that my contacts were being shared with a 3rd party (Signal), I would never have signed up.
I think, you should read up a bit on how Signal manages contacts/address books.
Re: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash
#70Meanwhile I've switched my family and friend to Signal with great success.
I installed Signal recently, but was flabbergasted when it advised me to connect with someone they found in my phone contacts who has recently joined Signal. WTF? If I knew that my contacts were being shared with a 3rd party (Signal), I would never have signed up. Still, better Signal than Facebook, I guess. :-/ P.S.: if I'm missing something and the check was done in privacy-conscious way, I would love to be correct…
I don't think they are shared in the same sense that it is shared with WhatsApp/Facebook etc.
"Signal periodically sends truncated cryptographically hashed phone numbers for contact discovery. Names are never transmitted, and the information is not stored on the servers. The server responds with the contacts that are Signal users and then immediately discards this information. Your phone now knows which of your contacts is a Signal user and notifies you if your contact just started using Signal. "
https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007061452-Do...