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WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

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Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#91

Post by FalconSensei »

bilekas wrote: post #50
frereubu wrote: post #22

I'd love to give up WhatsApp, but network effects are key here. I tried moving my extended family off WhatsApp onto Signal a couple of years ago and it failed miserably because the app wasn't nearly as easy to use, and they had all their friends on Whatsapp. Has anyone here had any success moving a large group of people onto something like Signal or Telegram? If so, do you have any tips?

IMO telegram has the best feature and usability parity as Whatsapp.. As for converting people who are not that interested, I can tell you from experience talking about privacy generally doesn't sell it.

People still use facebook/instagram/gmail. If you tell them whatsapp is linked to facebook, it changes nothing to them...

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#92

Post by darau1 »

rpastuszak wrote: post #19

Signal and Telegram seem to be the most commonly mentioned alternatives here. Which one do you prefer and why?

I would prefer signal, but I use Telegram. Everyone I talk to likes the feature set, so Signal would seem like a step backward.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#93

Post by st1x7 »

Evidlo wrote: post #78
utf_8x wrote: post #62

Once again - Signal[0] as an alternative. It's fully Open-Source (including the backend) and their crypto is public and independently verified[1][2][3]... [0] https://signal.org/en/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_(software)#Encryption_p ... [2] https://threatpost.com/signal-audit-reveals-protocol-cryptog ... [3] https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1013.pdf [PDF]

That's just moving from one silo to another though. Users of centralized services don't have much recourse when the company pulls the rug out from under them.

The problem isn't silos, it's lack of privacy. Signal solves that problem.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#94

Post by utf_8x »

afandian wrote: post #85
utf_8x wrote: post #62

Once again - Signal[0] as an alternative. It's fully Open-Source (including the backend) and their crypto is public and independently verified[1][2][3]... [0] https://signal.org/en/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_(software)#Encryption_p ... [2] https://threatpost.com/signal-audit-reveals-protocol-cryptog ... [3] https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1013.pdf [PDF]

Last time I tried to use it it on my android didn't work without google play services. And they really bury the apk download, which means it's useless(or heavily discouraged) for people without a google account. (Edit: this is rather a negative comment but its out of frustration -- I want to use it!)

The APK is really not that hard to find... https://signal.org/android/apk/

That page also states "Advanced users with special needs can download the Signal APK directly. Most users should not do this under normal circumstances." which IMO is a very good point. Downloading random APKs from the internet is rarely a good idea...

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#95

Post by TrianguloY »

utf_8x wrote: post #65
DiederikvandenB wrote: post #36

Does this also apply to European customers, given GDPR?

European user here - I got the notification today so... I guess it does?

I also got the notification, but it's strange because WhatsApp in Europe is from WhatsApp Ireland Limited, and WhatsApp outside is from WhatsApp LLC. They are different companies with different legal requirements. I've seen some news stating that these new changes apply only to WhatsApp LLC, but the notification seem to say otherwise.

Someone else with more info could explain better?

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#96

Post by nifhel32 »

frereubu wrote: post #22

I'd love to give up WhatsApp, but network effects are key here. I tried moving my extended family off WhatsApp onto Signal a couple of years ago and it failed miserably because the app wasn't nearly as easy to use, and they had all their friends on Whatsapp. Has anyone here had any success moving a large group of people onto something like Signal or Telegram? If so, do you have any tips?

I moved almost all my friends and family to Telegram. I think the secret, once I managed to get them to install it, was to create common groups instead than many one-to-one chats.

Then they got hooked up, mostly thanks to the huge amount of high quality stickers.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#97

Post by [deleted] »

Retric wrote: post #41
gotem wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which turned out to be a bunch of hyped up marketing talk. Why does every person in SV I know seem to love the narrative that we’re being mind controlled by micro-targeted FB ads, which to be fair is what I used to believe. Everyone on HN switches between “ads don’t work and targeting is BS” to “ads are manipulating our entire country by taking our data”

Not everyone on HN is the same person. So, different people can believe each without any contradiction.

[deleted]

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#98

Post by AndriyKunitsyn »

Barrin92 wrote: post #26
rpastuszak wrote: post #19

Signal and Telegram seem to be the most commonly mentioned alternatives here. Which one do you prefer and why?

Signal. Open source, non-profit, very good privacy defaults. Telegram seems even worse than whatsapp to be honest because they don't even have encryption on by default.

Telegram always has encryption, just no end-to-end encryption by default. This is a privacy/convenience trade-off. When chatting about groceries/memes/latest Netflix releases, you don't really need E2EE that much, and chats without E2EE are synced to all devices in Telegram, including a fully-supported desktop app.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#99

Post by Merman_Mike »

andrewchambers wrote: post #88
Evidlo wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just moving from one silo to another though. Users of centralized services don't have much recourse when the company pulls the rug out from under them.

If the backend is open source then there is recourse.

.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#100

Post by trulyrandom »

Maybe these privacy policy changes are not super scary yet (honestly, it's difficult to even read the thing since its littered with legalese traps that confuse me). And at least end-to-end encryption still seems to be on the table, but where are they headed? WhatsApp is so easy to use that most people will just click "Agree" and trade their privacy for convenience.

Messaging in the Netherlands almost universally runs on WhatsApp these days. Nobody uses text messages anymore, understandably, but somehow we all ended up on a platform run by Facebook. "Whatsappen" (messaging on Whatsapp) and "appje" (short for WhatsApp message) are even official words now. Need to contact a friend? Send an appje. Need support from a company? Send an appje. Need to send a message to your team at work? Send an appje in the group chat.

Has anyone managed to get their contacts to switch to Signal? I can't even get tech-savvy people to switch, since they always seem to find some minor annoyance that makes them instantly dismiss the app and go back to WhatsApp.

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