Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by requerdanos on Saturday January 09 2021, @05:50PM   Printer-friendly

WhatsApp: Let us share your data with Facebook or else:

In a surprise move, WhatsApp recently gave many of its users a difficult choice: they could either accept a revised privacy policy that explicit[sic] allowed the service to share information with parent company Facebook by February 8th, or decline and risk not being able to use the service at all.

[...] Upon further inspection, the updated policy makes clear that data collected by WhatsApp — including user phone numbers, "transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services , mobile device information, your IP address" and more are subject to be shared with other properties owned and controlled by Facebook.

"As part of the Facebook Companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information (see here) with, the other Facebook Companies," the updated privacy policy reads. "We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings, including the Facebook Company Products."

[...] The shift appears to be a dramatic about-face for WhatsApp, a company that contends "respect for your privacy" is coded into its DNA and made end-to-end encryption standard across all chats as of 2016.

Additionally, Signal sees surge in new signups after boost from Elon Musk and WhatsApp controversy:

Encrypted messaging app Signal says it's seeing a swell of new users signing up for the platform, so much so that the company is seeing delays in phone number verifications of new accounts across multiple cell providers.

As for what or who is responsible for so many new users interested in trying the platform, which is operated by the nonprofit Signal Foundation, there are two likely culprits: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Signal competitor WhatsApp.

[...] WhatsApp has outlined a new privacy policy going into effect next month that no longer includes language indicating it will allow users to opt out of data sharing with parent company Facebook. Instead, the new policy expressly outlines how WhatsApp will share data (stuff like your phone number, profile name, and address book info) with Facebook.

Two anonymous submitters also pointed us to this story.

Oculus to Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 10 2021, @04:08PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 10 2021, @04:08PM (#1097905)

    The problem I have with matrix, is that it reminds me quite a lot of how XMPP/Jabber unfolded: It's like email. You can choose which server to use, but still chat with everyone using the same protocol. There's a bunch of free servers to choose from.

    That's all well and good, and yes it's better than XMPP in a lot of ways for a lot of reasons, -but-: XMPP was dead out of the gate, more or less. Google adopted it for Google Talk, then dropped federation support, then dropped Google Talk, and then dropped XMPP. Outside google talk, it never really caught on in a mainstream way. I've no doubt it was forked and is being used internally for a lot of game platforms and other products but there's nothing out there that, One, everyone's heard of, Two, the un-technical folks are using, and Three, still supports federation with other compatible services.

    Unless Matrix can check off all three of those items, it's going to go the same route.

    This is more or less un-possible. Either Google, Facebook and Apple need to jump on the Matrix bandwagon and interoperate with each other and third-parties (I'd bet on living after flying a kite in a lightning storm every storm of the year before I bet on that actually happening), or something like the EU needs to regulate requiring interoperability the way they did for phone chargers. That would be a horrible solution and I in no way endorse it or hope it happens, but I'm not holding my breath on finally having a decent, universal communications standard, either.

  • (Score: 1) by ptman on Monday January 11 2021, @08:26AM

    by ptman (5676) on Monday January 11 2021, @08:26AM (#1098191)

    You raise reasonable points. Some answers:

    WhatsApp is based on Jabber/XMPP (you can see this where they refer to jid - jabber id). So is facebook chat (you could federate with facebook chat and google chat back in the day). But closed now, as you say.

    Jabber is still going somewhat strong in enterprise. E.g. Cisco has solutions based on it.

    Element is offering similar enterprise services. And it has some big customers. Like the german Bundeswehr, public education is some german states, french government, ... (I can't remember the whole list and I can't find the page listing them). There is interest to be independent of the US/Silicon Valley.

    Element keeps improving usability all the time. They've prioritised ease of use over features, which has some technical users complaining. Obviously element can advance several aspects simultaneously, but they cannot implement all the features and improvements now, during next week.