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Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

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Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#111

Post by bapak »

hbn wrote: post #73

People have been clowning on Apple for being behind on the AI stuff and -- while I'd never defend how they promised a bunch of features in 2024, showed them in ads, and sold iPhones based on vaporware, but still haven't shipped most of the features -- I will say, I imagine a lot of the hold-up is because they realized how dangerous it is to start trusting AI with the sensitive data on your phone. It's probably not to…

> even if there's a 0.0001% chance the AI will send a sensitive image meant for your wife to your boss, you should probably reconsider shipping.

Not the best example since Siri has been misunderstanding us for many, many years.

You really meant to send that I love you to Louis coworker, right? Not to "Love"? Too late

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#112

Post by lucb1e »

paxys wrote: post #21

Gemini being able to read WhatsApp messages ( when explicitly asked ) and take actions can be convenient. If it does so without prompting or feeds the data back into their model in any way for training - that's a big no.

It's apparently obvious to you that "hey Gemini, can you message Mike that I love him?" means the text is first sent to Google and then back to your phone and then by your phone to Mike. This isn't the case for everyone, perhaps also because it's not necessarily that way: https://www.macworld.com/article/678307/how-to-use-siri-offl... I couldn't find whether tasks related to "reading your messages" (like text to speech while you're driving or so) is a thing Siri does, but it obviously talks to you and if you tell it to send a message then that works offline so evidently there is some access there without needing to first upload it to the assistant's vendor

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#113

Post by qwertox »

Just a kind reminder that you can't delete chats on Gemini if you're using a Google Workspace account.

I don't know how they believe that this is remotely a good thing, or if this is even in accordance with the GDPR.

Now just assume something odd happens and it pulls in a couple of your WhatsApp messages into its Activity History.

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#114

Post by cosmic_cheese »

Mistletoe wrote: post #55

In the year 2025 I can’t think of any reason a person would use Signal instead of WhatsApp. All your friends and family should move to Signal if that is your excuse.

Mostly for QoL and polish, which WhatsApp has the upper hand in. Perhaps most notably, WhatsApp treats desktop as a first-tier platform instead of as an afterthought, which makes its desktop app considerably nicer.

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#115

Post by PaulHoule »

GiorgioG wrote: post #92
PaulHoule wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite example of this is the thoroughly craven New York Times which puts content behind a paywall and loads it with awful ads aimed at people who’ve proven they are made of money. Contrast that certain TV dayparts saturated with subprime ads promoting Medicare scams and other offerings for people who can’t spend their own money on things except for an occasional ad for a car dealer because if people weren’t dri…

> My favorite example of this is the thoroughly craven New York Times which puts content behind a paywall and loads it with awful ads aimed at people who’ve proven they are made of money. It's almost as if you don't remember the good old days when the NY Times sold you a physical newspaper...that was (and still is) stuffed with ads.

I do. And I remember exposes of the media business circa the 1970s that point out the synergistic relationship between subscriptions and ads, such as Ben Bagdikian pointing out that subscription revenue subsidized ads in daily papers or the fact that magazines like Vogue received much more revenue from advertising than subscriptions but wouldn't be viable if they were free because paying for a subscription qualified you as a consumer.

Lately the folks at my gas station have hit me up for a conversation whenever I was looking at newspapers, usually it is about how shocking it is how little paper you get in local papers for $2.50 or more. There are the funnies and the DBA listings and front-page articles about some chain store that isn't in our town going out of business. They don't bother to send reporters to public meetings like they did 25 years ago, and if there is a local election you might have to wait 36 hours after the results are posted by the board of elections. (Used to be a reason why I bought a paper)

Contrast that to the N.Y. Times which costs $6 or so but is a beast in terms of size (small print too!) although I'd say a lot of the content is vacuous.

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#116

Post by phalangion »

xandrius wrote: post #100
Workaccount2 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people collectively vote for the ad model over the subscription model.

Are those the only options? How about paying once, owning a specific version and that's it?

That works for software, but not as well for services like YouTube

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#117

Post by bonoboTP »

ryanrasti wrote: post #45
bundie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I prefer AI to stay in its own corner. Let ChatGPT, Gemini, and the rest be something I open when I need them, like a website or an app. I'm not really into the whole "everything should have AI built into it" idea. It kind of reminds me of how the internet used to be. Back then, you had to go to a specific room to use the family computer. The internet was something you visited. Now, tech is everywhere, fr…

Agreed the privacy that keeping AI "in a corner" appeals to me too. The fundamental catch here is that 80%+ of the future benefit will likely come from the very thing that erodes privacy: deep integration and context. Imagine if a Gemini had your entire life in its context (haha scary I know!), prompting would be so much more powerful. That's the core, uncomfortable trade-off we're all facing now.

> Imagine if a Gemini had your entire life in its context (haha scary I know!)

Windows Recall [1] is this for your PC activities (not yet fed to AI, but I see no reason to think it will stay this way). Meta is working on glasses to record the IRL part. But your phone is probably enough for most of it. Joining Zoom meetings with AI note takers is getting popular [2]. Not long until in-person meetings will have AI listening in from the phone mics, of course just to increase productivity and to summarize and remind you later. Convenience!

[1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/retrace-your-ste... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44446916

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#118

Post by IncreasePosts »

pkilgore wrote: post #42
IncreasePosts wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use Gemini then, it seems pretty simple

As the article states, "After turning it off, Google will still retain your data for up to 72 hours to "maintain safety and security of Gemini Apps" and allow Gemini to respond contextually."" Which means, AFAICT, it doesn't matter if you turn it off or not, Google still collects information and stores it for 72 hours as part of the core functionality of the operating system.

That's if you used Gemini with this feature. And if you haven't...?

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#119

Post by actionfromafar »

vaylian wrote: post #110
7373737373 wrote: post #66

I hope the EU sues the shit/existence out of them for exfiltrating private conversations and violating the secrecy of correspondence without explicit consent Tech corporations and their managers are basically data rapists

> for exfiltrating private conversations and violating the secrecy of correspondence without explicit consent I have bad news for you: https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/messaging-and-chat-co... The EU wants to exfiltrate chats as well.

That is very bad. The EU is very much not a monolith though, and both things could happen at once.

Re: Google can now read your WhatsApp messages

#120

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

hbn wrote: post #73

People have been clowning on Apple for being behind on the AI stuff and -- while I'd never defend how they promised a bunch of features in 2024, showed them in ads, and sold iPhones based on vaporware, but still haven't shipped most of the features -- I will say, I imagine a lot of the hold-up is because they realized how dangerous it is to start trusting AI with the sensitive data on your phone. It's probably not to…

> but even if there's a 0.0001% chance the AI will send a sensitive image meant for your wife to your boss, you should probably reconsider shipping.

That's too low of a probability for Apple to care. The probability that YOU would do it yourself by some random series of accidents is probably orders of magnitude higher than that.

Do you really think you're going to send 1,000,000 nudes to your wife without accidentally sending one to the wrong person!?

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