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Setting the record straight

blog.whatsapp.com

21–30 of 45 posts

Re: Setting the record straight

#21

Right, whatsapp doesn't collect private information. You just can't use it unless you hand over all of your contacts!

I forgot about this... they have one of the best network graphs of the world.

In fact, doesn't Whatsapp have more users than Facebook? That might be worth more than the message archives.

Re: Setting the record straight

#24
I have been meaning to ask this.

What encryption does Whatsapp use? Their FAQ doesn't say.

It also doesn't say if it is end-to-end (client-to-client) encryption or if the data is stored in plain on their servers? (I understand it is not stored permanently.)

Re: Setting the record straight

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes it is more important what a post like this doesn't say. "You don’t have to give us your name and we don’t ask for your email address. We don’t know your birthday. We don’t know your home address. We don’t know where you work. We don’t know your likes, what you search for on the internet or collect your GPS location. None of that data has ever been collected and stored by WhatsApp, and we really have no plan…

This jumped out at me as well. In his list, they don't-not collect A. my phone number, and B. my entire message history. Certainly he knows that our phone number is PII enough. It's trivial for someone with the means to tie a cell number back to a person, and only slightly less trivial to look at timestamps and cross-reference tower locations and messages to have a quality bit of intel. If he was truly about this "we…

and your phone number is PII that Facebook asks you to register with them!

So...yea, not exactly anonymous.

Re: Setting the record straight

#27

    "Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA"
This post is complete nonsense, and has no value at all because their words don't match their actions. A company that respects privacy wouldn't partner up with another company best known for infringement of privacy.

Suit the word to the action.

Re: Setting the record straight

#29

If partnering with Facebook meant that we had to change our values, we wouldn’t have done it. With no disrespect intended towards the whatsapp team, given the terms of the deal, it's a bit hard for them to say "If partnering with Facebook meant X we wouldn't have done it" unless X is "life would not have been as staggeringly beneficial to us".

The whatsApp team is disrespecting their users and their users' intelligence. To continue misleading/outright lying to their users is horrific in my opinion.
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