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WhatsApp to Share User Data With Facebook to Show Targeted Ads

Try Telegram folks. Slightly goofy interface, but much better overall.

EDIT: It also includes some history themed stickers including one of Steve Jobs for a *laugh out loud* worthy reply.

https://telegram.org/blog/stickers-meet-art-and-history

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zorinlynx said:
Switch to Telegram, people. Tell your friends to do the same.

WhatsApp is crap.
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There's not a great deal of difference between the two in terms of what they offer. I trust the people behind Telegram infinitely more than I do compared to Facebook, but WhatsApp is the 'standard' therefore it's impossible to get people to change.

If people want security then check out Signal, but the userbase is tiny.
 
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Nothing like opening a browser and seeing targeted Mack Weldon underwear ads all over the page. It makes me feel special. Bye now!
 
yanki01 said:
what is WhatsApp? doesn't everyone have unlimited text messages by now?

besides the less i have to deal with FB the better. can't stand seeing crap from 3 days ago when it didn't show me then.
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Text messages can't make free international calls and can't have group chats unless they are on an iPhone.
 
Steve121178 said:
WhatsApp used to be something like $1 per year until the Facebook acquisition.
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$1/year is essentially free for a communication app. My point is simply that this day and age people tend to expect these apps to be free of cost. Since there is no such reality, the consumer is going to pay on the front end or get it in the rear.

I'm very picky about what apps I use. I gladly pay for useful apps that don't advertise. Developers and employees are worth their wages to create this stuff; I'm happy to provide it for those things that are worth it to me. I hate the clutter of advertising as well as the thought that my every move is being tracked.

It's funny, but I work with disadvantaged kids. We have fairly strict protocols for supervising children with a history of risky behaviors. One of the most constant complaints we get is "I feel like someone's always watching me!" Then they turn around and spend hours on fb, instagram, snap-chat and other social media that monitor their every move.
mathews_doh.gif
 
Me lleva la ching...

Well, this was eventually happening, time to delete this crap right away.
 
yanki01 said:
what is WhatsApp? doesn't everyone have unlimited text messages by now?

besides the less i have to deal with FB the better. can't stand seeing crap from 3 days ago when it didn't show me then.
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All your texts messages, pictures messages, internet logs/data, call records etc are stored by your network provider and this data is shared with the Government. Standard practise in countries such as the US & UK. Here in the UK, network providers are required to keep user data (anything sent to or from users devices) for 6 years but it's always kept indefinitely, to mirror what they do in the US.

If anyone values privacy then text messages are probably the worst form of communication, alongside email.
 
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smacrumon said:
Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a Facebook like social media platform that operated just like Wikipedia, and survived on donations just like Wikipedia, no advertising, no selling of user data.
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Bad reference. Jimmy Wales runs Wikia, which is one of the most horendous cacophanies of advertising on the Internet.
 
Can someone explain.. Will what you say on WhatsApp somehow cause target ads on Facebook? Will stuff from Facebook show targeted ads on WhatsApp?

If the latter, I thought Facebook said WhatsApp will never display ads?
If the former, I thought it was end-to-end encrypted and WhatsApp couldn't even read what you wrote? Does this confirm that they are in fact full of ****?
 
smacrumon said:
Sorry, no comprehension here. What did you mean?
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Wikia, a network of wikis which are plastered in intrusive advertising, is ran by Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of the Wikimedia Foundation that owns Wikipedia.

Wikimedia has, and I believe continues, to use Wikia servers, staff and premises to run Wikipedia. They're just as bad as everyone else.
 
Borin said:
Wikia, a network of wikis which are plastered in intrusive advertising, is ran by Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of the Wikimedia Foundation that owns Wikipedia.

Wikimedia has, and I believe continues, to use Wikia servers, staff and premises to run Wikipedia. They're just as bad as everyone else.
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Thanks. It's a little different to Wikipedia though.
 
peterdevries said:
Whatsapp might be crap (which in terms of functionality I disagree with), but it is used more widely than Telegram. It would be quite an undertaking requesting my entire 1st and 2nd degree friend groups and all colleagues to switch to another app.
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Link them this article, if they're not ready to jump ship for a new app then I don't know wh at to tell ya. hah
 
Here in sunny Spain an international text message, not mms just plain old text, costs 60c (approx. 70 US cents) for one message. All the unlimited bundles are for domestic texts only. It's also about a 90% Android country so Whatsapp is pretty much universal. Few of my friends know, understand or care about privacy policies so they won't be switching any time soon.
 
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