I thought that way myself for a while. I realized it would never happen because Android to MS-DOS are not secure in the way Apple hardware is. It would be a security nightmare for Apple.
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Mandatory WhatsApp Privacy Policy Update Allows User Data to be Shared With Facebook
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I am gonna play the devil’s advocate here for a bit, but not before mentioning that I started notifying my Whatsapp contacts today, that I will be moving to Signal. I moved off Facebook and Instagram 2 years ago, and off Twitter last year.
Here’s the thing though. Whatsapp is a service and frankly, a very good one, reliable and feature-rich. We have been getting this for “free” and until today’s T&C update, that was mostly true. Now, I get that Facebook has tons of money, but why would a company want to keep giving anyone a free service that Telephone companies charge for? In a way, for the first time ever, Facebook is coming clean about users being the product, hence the “free” service. They are essentially saying, “you give us your data, we give you a service in exchange”. Objectively speaking that is fair. Mark’s grand idea to merge the platforms sounds also fair thinking as a software engineer with an entrepreneurial bone. The cold, objective fact is that what Facebook is doing with Whatsapp, even in light of EU regulations, is trying to make the most of what it can get away with legally.
Taking the devil’s advocate hat off, my reason for moving away from Facebook products is not just my privacy but a profound lack of trust in Facebook, its leadership, its policies and Mark Zuckerberg himself. I also don’t believe ad-based capitalism is the right way to go. I would have happily paid for Whatsapp as a fully encrypted and private service, had I had the option. It will take a while to build up a contact list on Signal, but hey, I will at least find out again who wants to keep in touch and who doesn’t.
Here’s the thing though. Whatsapp is a service and frankly, a very good one, reliable and feature-rich. We have been getting this for “free” and until today’s T&C update, that was mostly true. Now, I get that Facebook has tons of money, but why would a company want to keep giving anyone a free service that Telephone companies charge for? In a way, for the first time ever, Facebook is coming clean about users being the product, hence the “free” service. They are essentially saying, “you give us your data, we give you a service in exchange”. Objectively speaking that is fair. Mark’s grand idea to merge the platforms sounds also fair thinking as a software engineer with an entrepreneurial bone. The cold, objective fact is that what Facebook is doing with Whatsapp, even in light of EU regulations, is trying to make the most of what it can get away with legally.
Taking the devil’s advocate hat off, my reason for moving away from Facebook products is not just my privacy but a profound lack of trust in Facebook, its leadership, its policies and Mark Zuckerberg himself. I also don’t believe ad-based capitalism is the right way to go. I would have happily paid for Whatsapp as a fully encrypted and private service, had I had the option. It will take a while to build up a contact list on Signal, but hey, I will at least find out again who wants to keep in touch and who doesn’t.
My gut tells me this is downright illegal in the EU - at the very least they would need to provide a specific and appreciable reason for- and acceptance of each transaction 🤔
In the northern EU at least, SMS is generally flat rate - though everyone (who matters) uses iMessage anyway. Only between countries is WhatsApp ever really used, but FB Messenger is way more common 🤷🏽♂️
I think part of the issue is market size. Unlimited calling and data in the UK, for example, is a smaller proposition than unlimited in the US. Some plans combine US and Canada, too. Can someone with an unlimited plan in the UK get unlimited (free) calling and data in Italy or Austria?
Switched to “Signal” app today, these new Whatsapp “terms” were the straw for me.
Signal is very similar, same setup with phone number, and same kind of feel as whatsapp, it was an easy 2min switch, just told my groups im switching to Signal. Many people already followed me already. Cant give facebook the win on this.
Highly recommend guys 👌😊!
Signal is very similar, same setup with phone number, and same kind of feel as whatsapp, it was an easy 2min switch, just told my groups im switching to Signal. Many people already followed me already. Cant give facebook the win on this.
Highly recommend guys 👌😊!
WhatsApp Deleted!
It was actually quite liberating. Go for it, and don’t look back!
It was actually quite liberating. Go for it, and don’t look back!
I would say Signal or Threema. I've used both, The problem is the most of my friends and family use whatsapp and its very hard to get people to switch when they just don't really care about privacy rights or encryption in general.
No, they wanted to and want to milk WhatsApp. And WhatsApp devs took the money, selling their product to Facebook, knowing what Facebook is. Consumers don't care until it begins to hurt, at which point they are powerless to do anything, anyway.
Germany here (EU):
The links lead to the EU ToS (which is more user friendly to read) and privacy policy.
For anyone who cares:
Key Updates: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/key-updates-eea/?lang=en
Terms: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/terms-of-service-eea/?lang=en
Privacy Policy: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/privacy-policy-eea/?lang=en
I clicked the close button in the upper right, for now...
'Very nice' that you essentially cannot use WhatsApp without sharing your contacts to it (thereby you are probably breaching GDPR, if you have EU citizen contacts). If you retract Contacts access no names will show, just phone numbers, and you cannot set nicknames.
I already told them not to merge Facebook and Whatsapp data in the past.
I already told them not to merge Facebook and Whatsapp data in the past.
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If family and friends truly care about you, they will make accommodations that respect your privacy decision. Don't give in and keep using an app made from a company that openly disrespects you.
Doesn't matter. If you use WhatsApp, even in the EU, you still get this new policy.
9 in 10 people in my country use WhatsApp, so it's pretty much unavoidable. Unless you want to live a digital hermit.
No, SMS is not free pretty much everywhere. My friends in Europe and South America pay a fee per message for SMS text.
The only reason I have WhatsApp installed is to be able to communicate with them.
iMessage is built in on iOS, with end-to-end encryption. Whatsapp, Signal, etc. just complicate things.
Moving on from SMS doesn’t mean WhatsApp. iMessage is built into iOS and used by almost everyone I know.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks...
And yet while we may be against social sites as being more likely to do this, don't forget Apple does the same thing, and so does Netflix, for recommendations what we al watch, which they "may also share" yet its interesting the devices we use take a back seat instead in this issue.
Just assume they all do it, and be done. There is no slim picker's here.
Just assume they all do it, and be done. There is no slim picker's here.
Europe's a big place, are you saying that the majority of Europe is still paying for SMS or just a few countries? I just double checked a few, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, all of these have unlimited SMS included.
Tariffs are based on data allowance now, since the most people don't use SMS.
Closer to 100% of the people around me have iPhones; even those that aren't into the whole Apple ecosystem.
So…… YMMV; and I would be careful about judging all of EU based on either of our perspectives.
Each to their own but I really don’t want to lose this level of contact with friends/family and opt out of my group chats. Especially during a lockdown, it’s too big a loss. It’s basically a choice between your privacy or a big hit to your social life which is a shame.
