Mark Zuckerberg: WhatsApp Is 'Far More Private and Secure' Than iMessage

[bodonnell202]

Sure it is Zuck, we totally trust you with our data. 😬

 

[UltimateSyn]

It’s amazing how comfortable this guy is with just lying through his teeth.

 

[Kulfon]

Does anyone on this planet trusts anything that comes out or Meta?

 

[Lord Hamsa]

Given the general privacy practices that Meta and it's component predecessor companies have exhibited in the past, you'll perhaps understand if I'm a bit skeptical that their end-to-end encryption doesn't have some form of man-in-the-middle collecting data on the parties involved.

 

[GeoStructural]

Every single human on this planet knows that Mark Zuckerberg is just a money grab. Never had an original idea of his own, and his ulterior motive with anything he does is making money, the sleazy way.

Wait, are you describing Apple or Meta? It could apply to both.

 

[rp100]

“End-to-end” encryption is meaningless because Meta holds all the keys to the data. Data encrypted in-transit is table stakes in 2022. The problem is what happens to the data AFTER IT ARRIVES AT META! The doublespeak and deception is deplorable.

 

[AppleEnthusiast1995]

Sure thing, Mark.

 

[SW3029]

Actually reading the sentence quoted, what he said doesn't make any sense. Other than "disappearing messages" (you can just delete them) iMessage actually does have all the *security* features he mentioned.

Cross platform has nothing whatsoever to do with security and that seems to be the entire crux of his argument.

An argument has been made that iMessage is insecure because Apple manages all the encryption keys, but the same is true with Meta and WhatsApp.

Nope. Meta does not have access to whatsapp encryption keys.

 

[SW3029]

“End-to-end” encryption is meaningless because Meta holds all the keys to the data. Data encrypted in-transit is table stakes in 2022. The problem is what happens to the data AFTER IT ARRIVES AT META! The doublespeak and deception is deplorable.

wrong. Meta does not hold WA encryption keys.

 

[Minato1990]

What a lying bum.

 

[NightFox]

Just because your messages might be end-to-end encrypted doesn't mean Meta can't monetise your traffic data.

You're a member of a group called "Star Wars Fans"? That's marketable.
You set up a group called "Land Rover Enthusiasts"? Marketable.
You chat several times a day with John Smith. That's a marketable connection.
John's also a member of the Star Wars and Land Rover groups, and also a group called "DIY Exchange" - so there's a good chance you might be interested in DIY too. Ker-ching!

Encryption != privacy

 

[coolfactor]

He has a point, comparatively. The question to ask is — how does Meta plan to exploit WhatsApp for their own financial benefits? They're not giving this thing away for free.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Sure Zuck. And the Metaverse is far more real than reality…

 

[Wildkraut]

iMessage is truly only end to end as long as the user of the device does not make use of iPhone backup via iCloud etc. When a person makes use of iCloud backup for a device, the iCloud backup process (by default) provides Apple with the encryption key. That is how Apple is able to access user content when required to by law etc.

Yep, and iCloud backup is by default set to ON.

 

[Robert.Walter]

He has a point, comparatively. The question to ask is — how does Meta plan to exploit WhatsApp for their own financial benefits? They're not giving this thing away for free.

Read the comment immediately prior to yours.

 

[coolfactor]

Facebook is a threat to modern democracy globally and this guy has the nerve to make such claims.

Careful. This thread is about WhatsApp, not Facebook. Two different platforms.

 

[doboy]

SEC should probe him

 

[Robert.Walter]

What is this guy smoking???

Uncut arrogance.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Careful. This thread is about WhatsApp, not Facebook. Two different platforms.

Same outhouse.

 

[Wildkraut]

Does anyone on this planet trusts anything that comes out or Meta?

Better not trust Meta, and not trust Apple.

 

[coolfactor]

Signal beats out WhatsApp and others in terms of data security. If someone's motivation is data and message privacy, then Signal is the go-to app. Most users don't care that much.

 

[SW3029]

While it's true that WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption that doesn't automatically make it private and secure

This claim is contradicted by the simple fact that Facebook employs about 1,000 WhatsApp moderators whose entire job is—you guessed it—reviewing WhatsApp messages that have been flagged as "improper."

The loophole in WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption is simple: The recipient of any WhatsApp message can flag it. Once flagged, the message is copied on the recipient's device and sent as a separate message to Facebook for review.


The fact is that Facebook's Meta's poor track record will make people trust them less than Apple.

Being able to flag a WA message you got and then the user CHOOSING to send a copy of it to WA moderators through an automated process DOES NOT break WA's end-to-end encryption. It simply sends mods a copy of the message because the user TOLD WA to do so.

Arguing that breaks WA's E2E is silly. That would be like arguing that screenshotting an encrypted iMessage and the user choosing to send that screenshot to Apple breaks iMessage's E2E. It does not.

 

[erikkfi]

We can snark this all we want but WhatsApp is practically the messaging standard of the world outside the US.

Meta should be forced to divest it.

 

[uczcret]

Why does MR even post this stuff? Obviously on an Apple forum people will prefer iMessage over WhatsApp.

Engagement/comments -> ad revenue? It works obviously 🤷‍♂️

 

[SteveJobsDidntWantThis]

go home mark, you're drunk