WhatsApp Affirms User Privacy Following Backlash Over Data Sharing With Facebook

[ArtOfWarfare]

Here’s to breaking out one day 🍻
I’m no software developer but can relate as I C# a lot in game dev, shaders for vfx and generic art.

Not rich by any means but I have no wife/kids/personal-home-mortgage; just a cheap single room rent and this allows me to save over half of my income per month (to then burn on Apple products)

That Homer lifestyle in a main city hub, say Austin, I think it’s translates to needing over $200K? If someone can chime a light on that because I think too it isn’t achievable anymore with an ok-paid technician’s job.

Being able to do game dev and write shaders sounds to me like you can deal with much more complicated/hairy code than a lot of people who are currently employed as senior software engineers. You might need to learn more about formal organization/design/structure of data and code, maybe about dealing with databases, other developers, and client/server stuff... but I think you could probably transition into being a developer in under a year, and maybe land a job making over $200K within 4 years of the switch.

You definitely want to stop renting. Unless you intend to live someplace for less than 2 years, you're just torching money by renting. It makes as much fiscal sense as choosing to live in a motel... super expensive, and intended for shorter duration stays then you're doing.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

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.

I wouldn’t put such simplistic labels on that. I very much doubt 90% of those who communicate with me via WhatsApp have read all the pages in their terms and conditions and then applied that consciously to their level of care for others. It’s a messaging app and beyond that I’d bet a lot of people haven’t delved into the ethics of it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I wouldn’t put such simplistic labels on that. I very much doubt 90% of those who communicate with me via WhatsApp have read all the pages in their terms and conditions and then applied that consciously to their level of care for others. It’s a messaging app and beyond that I’d bet a lot of people haven’t delved into the ethics of it.

People should read before agreeing. If they don’t, they deserve what they get.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

People should read before agreeing. If they don’t, they deserve what they get.

Reading is one thing, understanding all the purposely confusing jargon is quite another.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Reading is one thing, understanding all the purposely confusing jargon is quite another.

That is true. At least try and read first. If someone doesn’t understand, that is something different.

 

[smorrissey]

I just deleted mine too, i did it once when what'sapp was bought by FB, i was really pissed off, however i reinstalled it because some " hot chicks" use it as a contact form, however with the pandemic that is forbidden now too so...bye what's app.

 

[smorrissey]

delete.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

BTW Do you guys know Telegram is owned by russians right?

Who left Russia

 

[beanbaguk]

What you describe there is not the platform at fault but more the people or companies that use them for their own gains. The solution is to stop people having the ability to voice their own views and agendas to the masses. Social media is just the carrier really.

It turns people into narcissistic Lemmings.....

 

[Apple_Robert]

I just deleted mine too, i did it once when what'sapp was bought by FB, i was really pissed off, however i reinstalled it because some " hot chicks" use it as a contact form, however with the pandemic that is forbidden now too so...bye what's app.

There are good looking ladies everywhere; even on MacRumors. Expand your horizon. lol

 

[AppleMango]

You should not use iCloud backup. Apple is not Facebook. Apple is much better than Facebook. Still, it's the cloud. There is no end-to-end encryption in iCloud Backup. So Apple can see your data and access it.
It is better to do local backups.

Facebook is not trustworthy!

Thank you very much for that information. I wasn't aware and that is shocking. Are you telling me, that years of chat history is out there on Apple servers, available to anyone who can get access? Reading and every picture and video sent?

How can I undo this?! Can I do local backup with iTunes and will that include all the chat history and media?

That is scary as hell. You sometimes discuss the most private things...

The new terms do not apply to the 'European Region'. This includes the EU, the UK and some other countries. If you go to the new terms you will see links to the separate terms for the the European Region and the rest of the world. I don't know if you'd be happy with the terms that apply to you, or if they have changed in any way, but the worst of it appears not to apply. I think this is because the EU forbade such sharing with FaceBook and they don't want to set up separate administrative centres for non EU parts of Europe. Facebook in the UK is still administered from Ireland, for example.

Thank you for that information, I indeed followed your lead and tried to compare the differences. It's still massive and I guess I just realised that all those things we sign up for with bible-long ToCs are just a "stupid thing" to get out of the way for most of us.

Fellow European here - I can't really answer you questions, I don't think anybody can, but heres my take:

You can trust that Facebook will use every way possible within the TOS to collect, analyze, store and use every single bit of data with Facebooks interests ahead of yours. This is proven over and over again.

If you (rightly so) feel uncomfortable - stop using their services. There are many alternatives, and yes, I know, cutting Whatsapp can be difficult because most people don't really care about their privacy (yet). But do what feels right for you - communication will work out in the end anyways. Think about what you might actually miss out on, and you'll soon realize that it's not too much or too important. If it is, well then you'll have to either accept FOMO or the Whatsapp TOS.

I'm 45, my entire childhood and most of my youth was without cell phones, internet etc - as much as I enjoy and appreciate all of the new forms of communication, I also quite easily get by without them, probably because for half of my life they didn't exist in their current form.

I stopped using Whatsapp a few days ago. Have been a happy user since day one. Yes - I will probably miss out on something. No - it's not that important to me. I'm still available via phone, text, email and even analog mail. Since I quit other social media things I've noticed that all the important stuff reach me anyways, I just have to wait a bit longer sometimes.

Don't use a service that makes you uncomfortable! I felt the same as you're describing, and after I stopped using all social media (and I was a very light user to begin with) these feelings of discomfort is mainly gone. I only use Linkedin nowadays, which I more or less have to for work. But only on my work PC, and only during work hours.

Trust your gut feeling.

Thank you for your personal message, I really relate to that.

Today I feel like I want to move away from Whatsapp and my muted Facebook-account I've only been using for group things from university, and so on.



Yet I wonder, can I reverse all of that? Or is every single detail and data of mine now "out there" on those servers and even if I delete my Whatsapp account or Facebook, they will keep it? Maybe someone could shed a light on that...

Many thanks!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

It turns people into narcissistic Lemmings.....

I can’t say I’ve encountered that personally but have known it happen in a few cases.

 

[amartinez1660]

Being able to do game dev and write shaders sounds to me like you can deal with much more complicated/hairy code than a lot of people who are currently employed as senior software engineers. You might need to learn more about formal organization/design/structure of data and code, maybe about dealing with databases, other developers, and client/server stuff... but I think you could probably transition into being a developer in under a year, and maybe land a job making over $200K within 4 years of the switch.

You definitely want to stop renting. Unless you intend to live someplace for less than 2 years, you're just torching money by renting. It makes as much fiscal sense as choosing to live in a motel... super expensive, and intended for shorter duration stays then you're doing.

Just wanted to say thanks a lot for the words and taking the time for solid advice. Greatly appreciated.

I’ll definitely take steps on this.

 

[MacBH928]

Yes, in the channels, not the chats. Big difference.

So why not just use the one that encrypts chats AND channels? makes sense

 

[Yptcn]

I’m a European user.
I have a Facebook account for university purposes from many years ago, I rarely use it (login every 2months, no real usage).
I have WhatsApp for years and I’m also using iCloud backup.
I haven’t had WhatsApp and Facebook app installed in the same time or on the same phone.

Tell me: can I trust them and keep using WhatsApp? What shall I do? This whole thing makes me really uncomfortable, feeding into my general discomfort at the moment.
Can I actually delete all my data from them? Or is everything up till now lost and can’t be undone?

I’m trying to understand what they really do with my data and how I should think about and what the right thing to do is...

If I ask 3 friends you get 3 opinions... :S

many thanks

Download your data from Facebook , it's scary .

 

[Yptcn]

I installed Signal and, as I expected, only two of my contacts use it and they're also techies like me. Let's see if the non-techies of the world (i.e. the ones who aren't concerned about facebook/whatsapps shenanigans) will switch as well. I doubt it. If they really cared about privacy, they would have deleted their Facebook accounts years ago.

I've gone from 5 contacts to 30+ in 3 days .

 

[I7guy]

I just deleted mine too, i did it once when what'sapp was bought by FB, i was really pissed off, however i reinstalled it because some " hot chicks" use it as a contact form, however with the pandemic that is forbidden now too so...bye what's app.

When I got that update to the T&C, it really bothered me. However, the person that got me into whatsapp, said he was moving over to Signal so my main chat is now on Signal and will be deleting whatsapp shortly. If Signal doesn't work out, back to imessage as my primary.

 

[stylinexpat]

Facebook is a cancer to society. The sooner we beat it, the better off we will all be.

Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told Facebook staff 'we need to inflict pain' on Apple, in response to criticism over data collection practices

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made angry comments about Apple in 2018, according to The Wall Street Journal.

www.yahoo.com

That Zuckerberg is quite dirty and evil..He doesn’t like for end users to have their own option or right to choose nor for Apple to allow their own users to choose.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

Already got rid of all their trash products/accounts. Signal from here on out, thanks

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I kept getting the new terms and conditions coming up in WhatsApp which I kept cancelling by not accepting or declining. It hasn’t come up since.

 

[George Dawes]

I only use the thing because my tightwad sister is too mean to buy an iPhone

I hate the app personally

 

[Mr. Heckles]

I only use the thing because my tightwad sister is too mean to buy an iPhone

I hate the app personally

Get her to use Signal or Telegram then.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Get her to use Signal or Telegram then.

I’d never heard of those apps until I read about them on this site. I think the problem right now is WhatsApp is so widely used throughout the world, it’s difficult to suddenly expect people to download an app because some people don’t like using another. I’ve got no problem with WhatsApp if I’m honest and use Facebook too so I guess I see it a bit differently.