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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:05PM   Printer-friendly

WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash:

Facebook Inc's WhatsApp said on Thursday it will go ahead with its controversial privacy policy update but will allow users to read it at "their own pace" and will also display a banner providing additional information.

In January, the messaging platform informed users it was preparing a new privacy policy, under which it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms.

It sparked a global outcry and sent users to rival apps Telegram and Signal, among others, prompting WhatsApp to delay the new policy launch to May and to clarify the update was focused on allowing users to message with businesses and would not affect personal conversations.

[...] In its latest blog bit.ly/3ufc9Eq, WhatsApp said it will start reminding users to review and accept updates to keep using the messaging platform.

"We've also included more information to try and address concerns we're hearing," it added.

Also at TheVerge, PCMag, and Engadget.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:17PM (3 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:17PM (#1115306) Journal

    We can hope that this (non)response is too little, and too late. I would love to see a Facebook holding irreparably damaged. The big tech companies all need to take some serious hits, and the abandonment of Whatsapp would be a nice start.

    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday February 20 2021, @05:20PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday February 20 2021, @05:20PM (#1115321) Journal

      :-) #walkaway

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Saturday February 20 2021, @08:26PM

      by edIII (791) on Saturday February 20 2021, @08:26PM (#1115381)

      Already done. I was getting close to installing WhatsApp to communicate with relatives abroad, but this privacy policy bullshit was a deal breaker. I'm doing my best to transition them to something else.

      Problem is that nearly all of them still have weaknesses related to the implementation, mainly on phones. Exploits that allow attackers to echo conversations in plaintext.

      Signal still asks to see all of your contacts. Why? Why is it necessary for any program to need your contacts before it allows you to use it? Telegram is Russian. Enough Said. That leaves Matrix possibly.

      I don't have the time or money to deal with this stuff, so I mainly go without. I'll talk over the telephone, but not about anything sensitive. I just refuse, and give the excuse that I'm not good on the phone.

      If I did have the money for a project, I would like to put together a purpose built phone that can work off an OTP scheme that requires the phones to "mate" with each other every so often. For families and close groups, that would work quite well.

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 21 2021, @05:44PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 21 2021, @05:44PM (#1115627)

      Won’t happen.
      People using Facebook already gave up any notion of privacy in their desire to be attention whores. WhatsApp users won’t walk away because all their friends won’t (network effect is strong when you’re a quasi monopoly and part of another monopoly).

  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:32PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:32PM (#1115308)

    You get fooled once, shame on them.

    You get fooled twice... you can't get fooled again!

    You get fooled third time... you can't get fooled again!

    You get fooled fourth time... you can't...

    You get fooled fifth time...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:58PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @04:58PM (#1115311)

    If they stuck to text emails, they wouldn't have all these privacy-sucking app problems.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 20 2021, @06:58PM (6 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 20 2021, @06:58PM (#1115364) Journal

      How sure are you of that? Default gmail scarfs up all the data it possibly can. Going into privacy settings decreases the data sucked up, but doesn't stop it. On the last several Android phones I've looked at, default email is gmail. If you don't already have a gmail, Android insists that you create an account.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @07:16PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @07:16PM (#1115365)

        Considering I don't use my phone for anything but calling, picture taking, email reading and web browsing, I'm considering just doing a plain Linux phone once my current one dies.

        I'll either live with, or fix myself, any unpolished UI issues.

        • (Score: 2) by Lester on Sunday February 21 2021, @10:06PM

          by Lester (6231) on Sunday February 21 2021, @10:06PM (#1115741) Journal

          I'm considering just doing a plain Linux phone once my current one dies

          No way. The chipset is completely proprietary: phone, camera, etc.

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by MostCynical on Saturday February 20 2021, @09:34PM (3 children)

        by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday February 20 2021, @09:34PM (#1115399) Journal

        Samsung/other brands' operating systems are part of the Android family, but you can run a phone without google, and still have sms and email and many other apps.

        https://lineageos.org/ [lineageos.org]

        https://f-droid.org/ [f-droid.org]

        --
        "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @10:18PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @10:18PM (#1115411)
          Cheaper in the long run to get an iPhone.
  • (Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Saturday February 20 2021, @08:28PM (2 children)

    by WizardFusion (498) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 20 2021, @08:28PM (#1115383) Journal

    I can't anywhere on what date they are forcing everyone to change.
    I need to know so that I can block all whatsapp domains to force my wife off it.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @09:16PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @09:16PM (#1115394)

      Today would be a good day to put the block in place

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Saturday February 20 2021, @10:01PM

      by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday February 20 2021, @10:01PM (#1115405) Journal

      they made the changes weeks ago.

      now they are informing users (thanks to the backlash)

      they are already sucking up all the data.

      --
      "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by ledow on Saturday February 20 2021, @08:29PM

    by ledow (5567) on Saturday February 20 2021, @08:29PM (#1115384) Homepage

    I think the best thing about this whole affair is this quote:

    "In its efforts to clarify that isn't doing anything wrong, Whatsapp has in fact inadvertently highlighted that it was already harvesting huge amounts of data for Facebook"

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @10:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 20 2021, @10:23PM (#1115413)

    for reminding me to delete it

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Frosty Piss on Saturday February 20 2021, @11:06PM

    by Frosty Piss (4971) on Saturday February 20 2021, @11:06PM (#1115422)

    I see all this indignation going on. Am I to believe that the vast majority of people actually using these apps did not already know or assume that all the platforms owned by Facebook shared data with the Mother Ship? Should people that ignorant be allowed to use the Intertubes at all? Seriously, this indignation bullshit has gone on far too long. It is not some new epiphany that social network platforms compile data on their users. This is not new, and at this point it’s perfectly reasonable to say “If you don’t like it, don’t use [insert social media platform]” ... The hyperventilating is no longer meaningful.

  • (Score: 2) by legont on Saturday February 20 2021, @11:12PM

    by legont (4179) on Saturday February 20 2021, @11:12PM (#1115424)

    Anybody who is using whatsup and/or facebook is a moron. They is also a fake news propaganda enemy. Once you start to look at the world this way, it becomes way easier to separate truth from the rest.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
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