Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

WhatsApp Affirms User Privacy Following Backlash Over Data Sharing With Facebook

ArtOfWarfare said:
As a developer, that sounds like a PITA. It requires additional coding and testing everywhere.
Click to expand...
Except that they already had to add those guards because of the EU.

They are simply tightening the wrench a little more, as planned long ago.
 
iShater said:
Whatsapp is so heavily used in my family and friends and colleagues, it is turning out to be a nightmare trying to move people off it with such a short time period. :(
Click to expand...
I can relate. I told everyone to meet me on signal or telegram, and that’s in addition to iMessage and SMS. I look at it as I am being very flexible, and am on several alternatives. But my WhatsApp is now deleted and dead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yptcn
Populus said:
I deleted my Facebook account a week ago. Problem is, I can't just delete WhatsApp because I'd lose my connection with the few social interactions I still keep. Everyone uses WhatsApp and most of them refuse to install more apps.

You're new to the dancing academy? Join our WhatsApp group! New to this singing group? Join out WhatsApp group. You're new at this University classroom? Join the WhatsApp group to be up to date! Even your friends and family members, who are often not very tech savvy, you can only reach them via WhatsApp. They don't know anything else, literally. They think iMessage isn't free, they don't know how to use Telegram (despite the UI is very similar), or they just don't want to have several apps. To some extent, I can understand them. But in any case, I am forced to use WhatsApp.
Click to expand...
It’s okay, the rest of us will normalize the other platforms for you. ;)
 
Apple_Robert said:
Those that care about you and want to stay in touch will respect your move away from WhatsApp. Those that really don't about about you and only want to contact you fro WhatsApp don't really care about you. Think about that.
Click to expand...

No they won't. I caught Holy Hell for dropping Facebook from my family and friends. I volunteered for an organization that I ironically helped get onto Facebook, and when I left they were pissed too.

I'm bad an analogies, but can't even come up with one that attempts to tell the depths that FB has drilled itself into society. It's become almost THE app. It's crazy... And most of the people, heck, nearly all, that were pissed I was leaving FB (and never really had much to do with me when I was on it) haven't even tried to keep up with me. It's like FB is a disease, and if you don't 'have' it, you are an oddity, something others can't understand. It's weird...

EDIT: Out of all my family, including 'extendeds', only one has kept up with me on any kind of regular basis. It's like I dropped off their (flat?) Earth.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: Madhava, Lazy and BigMcGuire
JM said:
...

I feel for the owners that sold it to Facebook, because it would be hard for me to turn down millions (a billion?) dollars for my company... but I wish they had kept it. No telling if it would have continued to make them money....

...
Click to expand...
A billion? It was 19 billion. No one could turn that down.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JM
PinkyMacGodess said:
No they won't. I caught Holy Hell for dropping Facebook from my family and friends. I volunteered for an organization that I ironically helped get onto Facebook, and when I left they were pissed too.

I'm bad an analogies, but can't even come up with one that attempts to tell the depths that FB has drilled itself into society. It's become almost THE app. It's crazy... And most of the people, heck, nearly all, that were pissed I was leaving FB (and never really had much to do with me when I was on it) haven't even tried to keep up with me. It's like FB is a disease, and if you don't 'have' it, you are an oddity, something others can't understand. It's weird...

EDIT: Out of all my family, including 'extendeds', only one has kept up with me on any kind of regular basis. It's like I dropped off their (flat?) Earth.
Click to expand...
That is a sad commentary on the state of society as a whole. If people are so lazy that they can't be bothered to reach out to people they claim to be friends with, the heck with those lazy people.

I had the same kind of guilt trip tried on me with other forums over the years. We miss you we never see you etc. And yet, no one ever tried to reach out to me otherwise. They all can go pound sand. I don't have time for phony, lazy people in my life. If someone wishes to be friends with me, show me some effort. Meet me half way and I will reciprocate.

The sad thing is Facebook didn't cause these problems. It has been going on long before Facebook. Facebook brought to ugly reality, that a lot of people who claim to be a friend, really aren't and never have been. They are nothing more than emotionally draining internet vampires who are always looking for someone to unload their dysfunctional drama on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Populus and BigMcGuire
MysticCow said:
I'm not sure if it's safety as much as getting the tentacles of a monster (Facebook) out of our lives as much as possible.
Click to expand...
i guess, but it seems like an uphill battle, unless you don't use facebook and instagram(which i'm sure a lot of people don't). personally i couldn't give two s-ts.
 
I never thought I’d get repeated enjoyment from deleting an app AFTER the fact. Thank you WhatsApp and Facebook!

As far as trying to get all my WhatsApp contacts to migrate over to something else, I thought about it for a nanosecond, then said F it and deleted the dang thing. If we need to reach each other badly enough we’ll find a way eventually.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NGruia
Be interesting to understand what people see as the 'line' that these companies need to cross between 'good' use and 'bad' use of your metadata (obviously if you directly post bad things, people can search that out anyway - I'm more interested in the hidden data these companies collect and what these TOR refer to)

I guess 'bad' would be anything preventing you getting a job / loan / college place? What else?
 
alexandr said:
i guess, but it seems like an uphill battle, unless you don't use facebook and instagram(which i'm sure a lot of people don't). personally i couldn't give two s-ts.
Click to expand...

Facebook still has a shadow profile on you even if you don't use Facebook. Apps will sometimes not call home to themselves, but call home to FACEBOOK. So unless you're working hard with addons like uMatrix and Facebook Container, you're not doing enough and Facebook is still tracking you and creating a profile on you.
 
PinkyMacGodess said:
No they won't. I caught Holy Hell for dropping Facebook from my family and friends. I volunteered for an organization that I ironically helped get onto Facebook, and when I left they were pissed too.

I'm bad an analogies, but can't even come up with one that attempts to tell the depths that FB has drilled itself into society. It's become almost THE app. It's crazy... And most of the people, heck, nearly all, that were pissed I was leaving FB (and never really had much to do with me when I was on it) haven't even tried to keep up with me. It's like FB is a disease, and if you don't 'have' it, you are an oddity, something others can't understand. It's weird...

EDIT: Out of all my family, including 'extendeds', only one has kept up with me on any kind of regular basis. It's like I dropped off their (flat?) Earth.
Click to expand...
I do believe you. When visiting/using dating apps, websites, many profiles say that if you don't have FB/Instagram, you shouldn't bother to contact them. It is crazy, but I've read it too many times unfortunately. I guess nowadays people trust only what they read/see in pictures, rather than getting to know you slowly and building trust.

And I do believe your experience, because I had a similar one: There was a 18-20 month period, 5 or 6 years ago, when all my contacts had moved to smartphones and WhatsApp, and I refused to install it. I had zero communication with my friends during that time. They used to send SMS before that, and like they told me afterwards, they had free SMS, BUT if you don't have WhatsApp, you're out. So I finally installed it because honestly I preferred to have a minimum social life, even if it was with people that didn't really care about me. Nowadays they are almost all of them married, with kids, and I no longer have social life with them. But I do keep my WhatsApp account because, whenever I am presented to a new group, I know they all will be using WhatsApp.

People prefer to not send you messages, rather than installing a new app. Unless you're a very influential person, or someone people really care about. I've never had that level of influence with people.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire and Madhava
I am really surprised at the awareness many of my contacts have about this change by Whatsapp.
People who I thought will not move from Whatsapp are already suggesting me signal, telegram.
Good to see this much awareness.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire and Populus
Uh huh, sure they do.

The thing with trust is, it needs to be earned. And once it’s lost, it’s very hard to earn back. Unfortunately for Facebook, trust and privacy go hand in hand, and Facebook is very much lacking both.
 
Given Facebook still has a billion users despite all the crap they've repeatedly pulled - I'm guessing this is a tempest in a teapot. Lots of people seem to be raging, saying "this is too much, goodbye" - I'm betting, if you check a year from now, this won't even be a significant divot on the line plot of WhatsApp users versus time.

The people who actually care about their information were already off Facebook and WhatsApp, long before this.
 
MysticCow said:
Facebook still has a shadow profile on you even if you don't use Facebook. Apps will sometimes not call home to themselves, but call home to FACEBOOK. So unless you're working hard with addons like uMatrix and Facebook Container, you're not doing enough and Facebook is still tracking you and creating a profile on you.
Click to expand...
i agree, and they aren't the only ones who are doing that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: riteshritesh and MysticCow
  • Like
Reactions: sjoerger and BigMcGuire
Apple_Robert said:
That is a sad commentary on the state of society as a whole. If people are so lazy that they can't be bothered to reach out to people they claim to be friends with, the heck with those lazy people.

I had the same kind of guilt trip tried on me with other forums over the years. We miss you we never see you etc. And yet, no one ever tried to reach out to me otherwise. They all can go pound sand. I don't have time for phony, lazy people in my life. If someone wishes to be friends with me, show me some effort. Meet me half way and I will reciprocate.

The sad thing is Facebook didn't cause these problems. It has been going on long before Facebook. Facebook brought to ugly reality, that a lot of people who claim to be a friend, really aren't and never have been. They are nothing more than emotionally draining internet vampires who are always looking for someone to unload their dysfunctional drama on.
Click to expand...
We all may have to return to the times where we were friends with our neighbors 😱
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yptcn, Madhava and BigMcGuire
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back