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Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#31

Post by enginaar »

i don't know if it helps but i wondered what chatgpt would say:

Dear WhatsApp Privacy Operations,

Thank you for your prompt response. I am writing to formally object to the processing of my personal information by WhatsApp based on my rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What information processing you are objecting to: I object to the processing of my personal data, including but not limited to my contact list, messages, location data, device information, and any other data that WhatsApp collects for purposes that are not essential to the provision of the service. Specifically, I am concerned about the processing of my data for targeted advertising, data sharing with third-party entities, and any other processing activities that are based on WhatsApp's legitimate interest rather than my explicit consent.

How WhatsApp’s processing of this information impacts you: The processing of my personal data by WhatsApp impacts my fundamental rights and freedoms, including my right to privacy. I am concerned about the potential misuse of my data, the risk of data breaches, and the sharing of my data with entities that I have not provided consent to. The aggregation and analysis of my data for profiling and targeted advertising purposes infringe upon my right to a private life and can lead to unwanted and intrusive advertisements. Furthermore, the sharing of my data with third-party entities without my explicit knowledge or consent compromises my trust in the platform and my ability to control how my personal information is used.

Any additional information you believe will help us review your objection (optional): I understand that WhatsApp may have business reasons for processing user data, but as a user, I believe that my right to privacy and control over my personal data should be paramount. I urge WhatsApp to consider the concerns of its users and to prioritize transparency and user control in its data processing activities. I hope that my objection will be taken into consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding the steps WhatsApp will take to address my concerns.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

[Your Name] [Your WhatsApp Phone Number]

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#32

Post by low_common »

jtode wrote: post #26
low_common wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey buddy take a xanax or something, this is hackernews not your DefCon forum.

"If you don't like reality, numb it out like the rest of us man." We do have to practice tolerance of certain things, but genocide is not one of em. I'm sorry it makes you uncomfortable to know that you're using the same platform that was used by state-supported mass murderers and the executives knew about it and took the money, but allowing others to tend to their own discomfort is the deepest of compliments.

What platform are you talking about? You're borderline incoherent here.

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#33

Post by withinboredom »

SenAnder wrote: post #25
d1sxeyes wrote: post #23

I have to say, that privacy policy is pretty comprehensive, and the questions they are asking seem fair. They don't need to prove that they NEED it, just that they have a legitimate interest in collecting it which outweighs your right to privacy and your objection to it. Just because Signal does not collect it does not mean that WhatsApp don't have a legitimate interest in collecting it. In particular, a for-profit c…

> a for-profit company has a fairly compelling argument that 'business intelligence and analytics' is a strong legitimate interest If profit were sufficient justification, the regulation would be toothless.

Have there been any court cases proving it wasn't sufficient justification?

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#34

Post by garbageoverflow »

_8ysf wrote: post #5
SenAnder wrote: post #3

I wonder what would happen if you tried asking for a list of which information it is possible to opt out of while still using WhatsApp. To force them to reveal what they can function without, or how much they are pretending to need, instead of keeping users in the dark. I suspect they don't offer such a list because they want to claim they need everything.

Good point, I asked them that.

Please also share this with us when they respond.

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#35

Post by withinboredom »

enginaar wrote: post #31

i don't know if it helps but i wondered what chatgpt would say: Dear WhatsApp Privacy Operations, Thank you for your prompt response. I am writing to formally object to the processing of my personal information by WhatsApp based on my rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). What information processing you are objecting to: I object to the processing of my personal data, including but not limited t…

I LOL'd. This is why you don't let AI write anything. It's great for giving a gist or summarizing/categorizing things... but this. I ... wow.

> I object to the processing of my personal data, including but not limited to my contact list, messages, location data, device information, and any other data that WhatsApp collects for purposes that are not essential to the provision of the service

It's literally a messaging app! You literally need ALL of those things just to send messages. Else how do you send a message without processing (aka, routing) it? How do I share a live location without processing my location data?

> Specifically, I am concerned about the processing of my data for targeted advertising, data sharing with third-party entities, and any other processing activities that are based on WhatsApp's legitimate interest rather than my explicit consent.

OK, so what. Sending a message is literally sharing data with a third party. There's no way around it, there will always be AT LEAST 3 parties: the sender, whatsapp, and the recipient. Like come on. Are they supposed to ask you on every send: "do you consent with sharing your message with the recipient?" LOL

> I am concerned about the potential misuse of my data, the risk of data breaches, and the sharing of my data with entities that I have not provided consent to.

For some reason, I assume they're concerned with this too and go to great lengths to protect their infrastructure.

> The aggregation and analysis of my data for profiling and targeted advertising purposes infringe upon my right to a private life and can lead to unwanted and intrusive advertisements.

LOL. So counting the number of people who do X where the count is in the hundreds of thousands to a millions somehow endangers your right to privacy? I can't wait to hear about this one.

> the sharing of my data with third-party entities without my explicit knowledge or consent

Your habits of drunk dialing on Whatsapp (which is the only way I can really think of involving a third party without your consent, though I guess butt-dialing counts too) ... are not their problem.

> prioritize transparency and user control in its data processing activities.

Yeah, if they're sending messages without telling you, then I suppose you'd probably want to stop using that service.

This message was a good laugh, and all the more reason NOT to let AI do ANYTHING meaningful.

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#36

Post by jtode »

low_common wrote: post #32
jtode wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you don't like reality, numb it out like the rest of us man." We do have to practice tolerance of certain things, but genocide is not one of em. I'm sorry it makes you uncomfortable to know that you're using the same platform that was used by state-supported mass murderers and the executives knew about it and took the money, but allowing others to tend to their own discomfort is the deepest of compliments.

What platform are you talking about? You're borderline incoherent here.

If you are not aware of certain facts in certain parts of the world, it certainly would sound that way.

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#38

Post by _8ysf »

NayamAmarshe wrote: post #28

Well, one hardcore way is to just switch to another app and let your contacts know where to find you if they need you. I switched to Telegram 2 years ago, haven't installed WhatsApp ever since and all my contacts got comfortable with Telegram that I don't miss out on anything important anymore.

I understand the idea (though I find Telegram worse than WhatsApp in that it's not even properly end-to-end encrypted).

But the idea here is really to see how far I can go about asking WhatsApp to not collect my data :-).

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#39

Post by _8ysf »

warrenm wrote: post #13

Don't use WhatsApp ... or deal with their crappy (ie nonexistent) privacy and data use rules

The whole point of my question is that I want to see how far I can leverage the GDPR with WhatsApp. I do use other apps, but that is not the question :-)

Re: Ask HN: How can I meaningfully object to WhatsApp processing of my information?

#40

Post by _8ysf »

paxys wrote: post #20
Msurrow wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, thats not the point. The comment above asserted that OP cannot “move the needle”. I’d say thats incorrect. If WhatsApp is voilating gdpr.

That is precisely the point. "Hey guys how can I take down Facebook?" Well you need proof of wrongdoing first, and don't have any. How is writing yet more emails in different words going to help?

I think you totally missed the point. Let me rephrase it: as per the EU legislation, I got a popup in WhatsApp that was saying that I have a right to object to their data collection. I followed those links and got the e-mail above.

They are essentially telling me: "You need to put the right words in your e-mail if you want us to take you seriously, but we are counting on the fact that you don't, and therefore we work around your right to object".

Hence my question here. If somebody found a way to send the right words to WhatsApp and shared them, I could send the exact same e-mail. Or differently, if we could find a "good e-mail" to send and WhatsApp still refused to acknowledge it, then EU-based users could complain to the EU and possibly get the law with them.

I think it can move the needle.

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