It seems like most of the world read the find print for the first time. They are simply reiterating what they have been able to do all along, the only change is that starting Feb 8 if you don't agree you can't use the service. . Edit: Warning! You can see key change, but only if you edit the settings. I’ve come to understand that Telegram’s performance and a lot of its features are only possible because of this. Good post but for point 3, that's not a bug it's a feature since most people don't force kill apps to prevent it from accessing the internet, in the most cases phone runs out of memory and the OS kills the app. Remember trying back in the days to get people off MSN messenger... Today it's whatsapp messenger and facebook messenger. Thanks for reading! At the end of the day, all these companies are really vying for our attention, a coveted spot on our home screen. Only one example is their response to Cambridge Analytica. They basically know everything (I mean the metadata) except the content itself. They basically know everything (I mean the metadata) except the content itself. Regardless, It seems there's a lot of hype here without much really behind it. As u/StigmatizePorn mentioned, I am incorrect about key change. No.6. How can we trust them on things that we can't verify and have to take their word on? And if you think that the company will try to protect this data, you should think about it again. Whereas WhatsApp automatically trusts every new key without notifying the user that the key has been changed. 21.2k. If that starts happening, that's the only thing that'll make me go through the shitstorm of trying to get all of my family and friends onto Signal etc, Impossible, whatsapp brand is basically "end-to-end encryption". But i imagine its kinda hard to figure out anything from encrypted metadata contents. I am asking something different. Connected. Constantly running services in the background are already forbidden by Android since 8.0, which is over 2 years old now. Blockchain-based. In fact I was getting ready to delete it. For example, if you force stop WhatsApp on Android, it will automatically turn on within 30 minutes. Whereas WhatsApp automatically trusts every new key without notifying the user that the key has been changed. Facebook is using your 2FA number to target you with ads. Instead of getting a pop-up that asks whether or not you want to back up your information, this … i mean besides the phone numbers involved and the time. None of the metadata of your messages is encrypted when messaging on WhatsApp. WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption built with "Signal encryption protocol" but with one major difference. It is not an account I use much. 6 month may sound like a lot, but some of them are not techy at all, so I believe that's a good result. Facebook is filled with smart, if evil, people. It's safe to assume that their encryption is implemented properly and WhatsApp in and of itself seems to have reasonable design, in terms of security. I use Telegram too, but you have to know that it’s not as private as WhatsApp. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Why cant I opt out. Yes, WhatsApp leaks metadata; they know all your contacts and when you're talking to them. The fact that the OP is posting information from 7+ years ago (let's face it... Android in 2013 was very different from Android today). From what I understand nothing much has changed. So as long as you don't back it up on the cloud, no Google Drive, iCloud or any other provider, your message content is not available to any service provider. The new privacy policy primarily concerns messaging businesses on WhatsApp and what parts of your data those businesses have access to. The intersection of technology, privacy, and freedom in a digital world. I dunno why people use WhatsApp. WhatsApp has a serious issue—one that hit home hard in the last week. I got rid of FB and whatsapp years ago. Just like the power of defaults ensures that the hugely vast majority of conversations will be sent in the clear, since E2E encryption is turned off as the default. Many of them had no problems moving to Signal and no one used WhatsApp more than 6 month after the invitation. Angela Lang/CNET WhatsApp this week published an FAQ clarifying the terms of its updated privacy … What if you don't have a facebook account? See the linked Wired article for context. Their response to getting busted last election cycle for widespread voter disinformation campaigns in 2016 is to declare that they plan on allowing political campaigns to make up any lies for paid political ads in 2020. wait, so Signal doesnt record the metadata? I mean yes they have both the phone numbers, but donthey say they dont keep logs or log the metadata? This reminds me of the pre iPhone era when messaging services like AOL Instant Messenger dominated and there was this ambitious multi platform client software that could connect to multiple back end messaging services. These two things aren't accidental. They hate when I don’t have WhatsApp and am only contactable using signal. If you just install and open it even once, it will collect data such as your operator, the unique identifier of your phone, your approximate location (city where you at), what apps you have installed, etc. WhatsApp collects a ton of data. Nothing. Some people prefer to communicate on instagram (PMs). Last week, WhatsApp surprised many by showing an in-app message asking them to accept a new terms of service and privacy policy by February 8th, 2021, or leave the platform. For about one year I've been helping people around me move from WhatsApp to Signal. WhatsApp's updated One can always dream . r/whatsapp is home to the online messaging platform owned by Facebook. 1.2m members in the privacy community. End-to-end Encryption. The very reason it is “cross-platform” is because the messages are stored in the cloud. Why the uproar now when nothing material has changed? Decentralized. And don't get me started about how evil their lobbying and public policy decisions are. Session. If you, as a customer, don’t agree, don’t use the service. There was a post on here yesterday which appeared to claim that they were going to be reading our messages now. Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. News, updates and general discussions about the app can be posted here. Today I would like to share my 5 strongest reasons why you should stop using WhatsApp: It is owned by Facebook, the company that gets the main portion of their revenue from selling users' data. They provide encryption in transit only not at rest. About metadata: yeah, I was thinking about adding the point, but at the moment of writing I was confused by WhatsApp's ToS and PP and decided not to do so. Press J to jump to the feed. https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/12/whatsapp-privacy-facebook-integration WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption built with "Signal encryption protocol" but with one major difference. Does not require … If they're this bad with their "good" features, how bad will they be with their worst? A business has the right to specify terms of service. There are some extra sources if you would like to find more information on this topic: Should I be worried about WhatsApp Security? However, I think given that not much changed in what WhatsApp is doing and sharing, the reaction has seemed overblown. Regardless, every business transaction is consensual. My objection is why does Facebook business community need to track my whatsapp? This is no different than your voice call metadata being available to law enforcement using a legal subpoena, standard practice for decades. News, updates and general discussions about the app can be posted here. Meaning, even that embarrassing message you sent to your friend and then immediately deleted is stored on WhatsApp's servers forever. It just sucks if you meet new people because i dont wanna preach about signal to everyone i meet. It really does feel like everyone is saying they weren't aware of the terms before, or was just ignore the fact that Facebook has owned WhatsApp for years already. Sure, they’re not reading our messages, but there’s also not much meta data left they’re not collecting. Deleted WhatsApp account and Facebook and I am Telegram for 2 years already. What I know they do not read the messages but track also data if you forward a news article which is in my opinion pretty close.. I don’t care for the ones who insist on being on facebook. They will have access to all your contacts their profiles and all of above mentioned data, so you have to figure out way around it or to hide contacts or something. Companies want to protect themselves, not you. On mobile, the common denominator is our phone number. hate this shit when people from family/work/school etc force me to use WhatsApp. I honestly still feel like they only get transparent with the new tos and that's it, because nothing I've read new is any different from what they were doing anyways. Well said. Going to use something else got a few of my friends and even work colleagues to do the same and everyone in my family to … Most WhatsApp messages are end-to … They have no interest in being able to read your messages. But that’s not my point. My issue is that there’s no real opt-out there. https://developer.android.com/about/versions/oreo/background. Does Signal not log the metadata? WhatsApp didn't have to go through the troubles of implementing E2E, as the majority of people doesn't really care about that anyway. The more permissions you grant to WhatsApp, the more data it will collect about you. I would love for some standardized back end messaging platform where features like e2e are guaranteed, mobile numbers and message history and your friend "graph" is portable between networks and client software competes for customers by innovating around other features. Hopefully these reasons will help you to move to privacy-respecting solutions or help your friends/family/colleagues to do so. A thorough and detailed investigation is required to ascertain the full extent, scope and impact of data sharing through involuntary consent of WhatsApp users, … Movements that start on false premises can still be good, but how would I get my parents to switch to signal when all of their family is on WhatsApp? Their marquee feature remains intact since it's end to end encrypted. The program’s user interface is specifically designed to back up messages. The power of defaults ensures that few will activate this feature, especially those non-technical people facing the largest threats: journalists, activists and folks belonging to minority parties, religions or races. I'm with you on this. That is my question exactly. Why do this billion people use it? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Whereas … Getting family and friends to signal was fairly easy for me. Anybody who wants to get hold of me has a choice between facetime and Signal. I can't find any information about that. And what good is the encrypted metadata anyway? It's hard. In Signal, an open-source messenger, you can verify if an encryption key was changed. https://www.wired.com/story/whatsapp-facebook-data-share-notification As it is widely believed or said or whatever, chats between two contact is end to end encrypted, so WhatsApp can't read any of that. It's such a hard battle. Great experience and recommend to you:) Cause Telegram is cross-platform (very useful for me) So, WhatsApp is OK, but there is a MUCH better alternative. WhatsApp is looking to clarify some concerns about its privacy policy. How much is your personal data worth to Facebook? Wow, I was about to say the same about metadata too. It is a known issue; WhatsApp finds ways to restart after force stopping in every version of Android. It opens possibilities for developers, hackers, and governments to monitor all your chats in WhatsApp. In Signal, an open-source messenger, you can verify if an encryption key was changed. Already purged WhatsApp myself. Just checked the section about automatically collected information. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/whatsapp-privacy-security-settings https://www.xda-developers.com/discussion-whatsapp-vs-privacy Same shit, all over again. Maybe that will change now, but I doubt it. I rather delete my FB account than my WhatsApp account. Why is there such an uproar over the recent Whatsapp privacy policy changes set to go into effect on Feb 8 2021? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Having all the facts, it is safe to assume that your data can be stored on WhatsApp's servers and that makes your communications within the app permanent. Their stated reason is so they can "improve the service". Totally there should be an opt out, I don't like fb and I don't want WhatsApp data to be shared with fb, unfortunately I don't have much option as most of my family is on WhatsApp. The change to data terms has continued to spark backlash around the world. Thank you, I have this quote message copied and was about to say this exact thing. The metadata is sent, kept and analysed by Facebook who own WhatsApp. If you think that this is … There's no proof it has backdoors despite the badness of Facebook. Your communication in WhatsApp is not really private. Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips ! What happens to those who have a whatsapp account but don't have a facebook account? WhatsApp actually encourages users to expose their private data to third-party sources. The intersection of technology, privacy, and freedom in a digital world. This is no different than your voice call metadata being available to law enforcement using a … It is also important to mention that Facebook runs studies on their users' behavior and regularly has data breaches. If anything, the new TOS makes it more clear what is going on, and that transparency is good. Unless you’re communicating using secret chats only (and not in any group chats), your messages and media can be read by Telegram. WhatsApp behaves like a virus. Press J to jump to the feed. Due to network effects, switching our entire family and friends from one platform to another is a big barrier to entry and they know this. r/whatsapp is home to the online messaging platform owned by Facebook. Questioned it, glad I'm not the only one. For instance, when you first time open WhatsApp it will always show you the right county-code no matter what - this is because WhatsApp finds it by your mobile operator, not your IP address. You can learn a ton of information about someone from the metadata alone. Millions of digital messenger app users seem to have scrambled for alternative services in the last week, after Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced changes to its I'm all for more people using the gold standard of private messaging, which is Signal, but I rarely get to message anyone there. I've tried on multiple occasions to change my family to signal or even telegram. Since it's a messaging app and you don't want to miss messages, it's a good thing. Just using well reputed cross platform ad blockers like uBlock Origin and services like NextDNS with popular block lists like OISD that block tracking should be sufficient to protect privacy, right? 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