Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
WhatsApp to Share User Data With Facebook to Show Targeted Ads
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This means online dating, classified ads etc. will be a notch more dangerous. Find someone's Facebook profile and surname through a simple phone number, i.e., even if they have not made their phone number public on Facebook, if you communicate with them through Whatsapp, you will see them in the "suggested friends" part of your Facebook feed.
I hate targeting apps, I consider these as an insult. That's why I never look things up using Google. Search for a specific camera and for weeks Google gives you all kind of banners concerning banners as if you're some kind of retard; quite annoying.
Except if your contacts also use Android or any other non-iOS platform. Whatsapp is truly universal as far as main platforms go. So that you have a clear picture of what I mean, I know very stubborn people that still punch in their messages in old crappy blackberry keyboards that have finally resigned to move into a newer phone (with no physical keyboard) just because they need Whatsapp and is going to be discontinued for BB.
It can't possibly be targeted. I was seeing men's underwear ads all over the place, too, for a couple of days and I'm a woman and I've only been browsing smartphone accessories and reading articles on IPhone 7 and Note 7. I guess people who are interested in smart phones are mostly men also badly needing fancy new underwear.
???I didn't fully delete my Facebook account because I want to retain the power to go back and delete old posted content when I have time to do so and I also want to retain some measure of control over info I already gave them. But I did put my account into some sort of suspended mode where my profile appears to be gone and I can't be reached via FB at all. My friends understand. FB barely works anymore. It's collapsing under its own weight.
Messenger is okay I guess. But there is way too much drama going on there these days due to politics. I'm sick of watching my friends fighting all the time or worse...posting hoaxes. It takes like a minute to verify some crazy "news" story, especially thanks to Snopes. But nobody ever bothers and they get all up in arms about stuff that never actually happened. It's an online insane asylum.
And their apps are worse than Pokemon Go at killing my battery and running like crap and doing stuff in the background after each update. The web interface is nothing to write home about, either.
I'm laughing at people saying "everyone switch to ______"
It's not that easy. There will always be that one person who insists on using whatsapp.
It's only my silly android friends that use whatsapp to communicate with me anyways. I hate it. I want all my messaging done in one app, and that is text. Whatsapp is used for group chats (for me)
It's not that easy. There will always be that one person who insists on using whatsapp.
It's only my silly android friends that use whatsapp to communicate with me anyways. I hate it. I want all my messaging done in one app, and that is text. Whatsapp is used for group chats (for me)
Liar! Its not even officially available on iPad!
Yep, you can http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iosapps/how-install-whatsapp-on-ipad-without-jailbreaking-3636728/
And if you are Jailbroken, there's a tweak called WhatsPad or something like that.
My family and friends switched from Hangouts to Telegram recently. Not many people I know use WhatsApp. Biggest thing for me is cross platform cloud messaging. Telegram is quick, fast, encrypted, works on all the OS'es that my family/friends use (Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, iOS).
I tested out WhatsApp awhile ago but the whole scan a QR Code to use the web version while having your phone on the same WiFi (IP Isolation hell at work prevents this) just ... didn't really work well for me. I did like its speed.
When Facebook bought WhatsApp I cried a little. Them monetizing this happened a little faster than I thought. But I really can't stand Facebook. Go to Target Pharmacy for a SPECIFIC medication that ... you'd like to keep private and the next day it's all over your Facebook wall via advertisements (that very SPECIFIC drug (maybe I googled it, I can't remember)).
Tired of these monetizing apps. That's why we switched to Telegram. 2.5 weeks in and we're really happy with it. Definitely recommend it.
I tested out WhatsApp awhile ago but the whole scan a QR Code to use the web version while having your phone on the same WiFi (IP Isolation hell at work prevents this) just ... didn't really work well for me. I did like its speed.
When Facebook bought WhatsApp I cried a little. Them monetizing this happened a little faster than I thought. But I really can't stand Facebook. Go to Target Pharmacy for a SPECIFIC medication that ... you'd like to keep private and the next day it's all over your Facebook wall via advertisements (that very SPECIFIC drug (maybe I googled it, I can't remember)).
Tired of these monetizing apps. That's why we switched to Telegram. 2.5 weeks in and we're really happy with it. Definitely recommend it.
LOL! - 1st sentence of the link you post -
"There's no official version of WhatsApp for the iPad, but it's possible to use it anyway"
and that other way is a safari bookmark link to use the "whatsapp web" service.
I'm not a huge fan of FB - but outside of the US - whatsapp is most likely the number 1 app on any iphone worldwide
Only if you got it late. My data is worth far more than $1 a year!
There are many multiplatform apps out there and some takes privacy much more seriously than this turd. Anything facebook related should be avoided at all costs.
When Facebook acquired WhatsApp I knew it was only a matter of time until something like this happened. It is now deleted from my phone, never to come back.
A Social Networking website, or any website, that acquires someone else is just not only interested the service, they want to make changes... in Facebook's case it's sharing info.
The "select" data thing i see only as a start... but it will fade away slowly, and users won't even notice. I would think there would be users leaving WhatsApp over this..
No different than when people left Facebook, for the same reason when they updated the website.
I live in a strange world where everyone (no exception) in my family (parents, siblings, children, wife, wife's parents, siblings) all use iphones. In my world even 99% of my friends and colleagues use iphones and that spans several continents. I currently only have one friend in Argentina that has refused to convert. And it is for that one friend that I have whatsapp. When I convert this friend (and I am working on it), I will have zero need for this. Like I said my world is strange in that it all exists within the walled garden. But I enjoy it.
Same ol' same ol': if you're not paying for the product, you're the product.
Yes there are other platforms but you don't seem to understand. I can't iMessage or Telegram most people because they don't use it. Adoption is everything. And by the way, fixed lines and mobile phones are subject to much worse privacy concerns than the end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp communications.
Done years ago. Everyone loves it! Cross platform, single account that syncs, easy file share, easy gif searching and inclusion as well as image sharing etc..
I hear that faceapp is slowly catching up, but way too late for us.
Last edited:
Why are people freaking out? Seems like it's just account info like phone number. The messages are still secure.
[doublepost=1472141255][/doublepost]
[doublepost=1472141255][/doublepost]
Hehe. Someone should make a new ad blocker that also pretends to click all the ads on targeted websites (e.g. Facebook, not MacRumors). Suddenly, there'd be click fraud from tons of normal users. Maybe that'll be my next hackathon project.
Yes, deleted WhatsCrap as well. Too bad Fecesbook bought it.
Perhaps they'll start losing their user base over this and in an effort to mitigate the hemorrhaging they'll consolidate the companies into "What's Facebook"
Lucky. Most people I know have iPhones, but there's always that one guy with his stupid Android phone that throws off our group text.I live in a strange world where everyone (no exception) in my family (parents, siblings, children, wife, wife's parents, siblings) all use iphones. In my world even 99% of my friends and colleagues use iphones and that spans several continents. I currently only have one friend in Argentina that has refused to convert. And it is for that one friend that I have whatsapp. When I convert this friend (and I am working on it), I will have zero need for this. Like I said my world is strange in that it all exists within the walled garden. But I enjoy it.