Slashdot Mirror
Indian Students Score a Partial Win in Facebook Privacy Dispute (bloomberg.com)
WhatsApp announced last month that it would stop begin sharing some of users' information -- phone number, contact information of people in your address book etc -- with Facebook. Two Indian students last month expressed their concern over this, adding that WhatsApp was "severely" compromising their privacy and those of other billion plus users, and that it was reneging from its original promise. They approached Delhi High Court, and after hearing from everyone, the bench of chief justice told WhatsApp that it must delete data of users who are opt out of privacy policy changes before September 25. Bloomberg adds: The Delhi High Court on Friday ruled that WhatsApp has to delete all data on users who choose to stop using the service before Sept. 25, when the new policy takes effect. Also, it can only share data collected after that date. However, going forward, WhatsApp is free to share information on users who haven't opted out. The court also asked India's government to consider if it was feasible to craft regulations to oversee WhatsApp and other messaging apps, though it didn't specify what form they could take.
Finally, something to stop Facebook from spreading it's tentacles unchecked!
WhatsApp announced last month that it would stop begin sharing some of users' information
Well which one is it? It's like I don't do understand it!
How would the Indian courts exert any clout? Does WhatsApp have offices in India? Do they employ people there?
This was a very poorly-written summary - the worst I've seen in some time. Quality versus quantity, please!
Many, if not most, users of WhatsApp in India use it as a cheap way to communicate with relatives in other countries, since telecoms charge per text even in-country. Even at $0.01 per text, with the average teenager sending over 100 texts a day, that adds up if you have a bunch of kids on a family plan. With the average income being ~$120 a month, that's going to be significant.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
War is piece, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, stop is begin.
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
...and that it was reneging from its original promise.
Every company without exception can and will do this. Even the diehards. Because one day, management will change and too boost profits so that the current management can justify their bonuses will prostitute their user's or customer's data.
It will happen. And when you add in the big data techniques, our lives become and open book to be exploited and abused.
Companies like facebook, LinkedIN, Google, Yahoo! all do this now.
The Internet and iOS/Android apps are detrimental to our privacy.
They approached Delhi High Court, and after hearing from everyone, the bench of chief justice told WhatsApp that...
Wow, that's quite some understanding of how the High Court works.
Maybe you should have a l lie down, your brain must be exhausted.
"WhatsApp announced last month that it would stop begin sharing some of users' information"
English, motherfucker, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!?!
Look, I know manishs had a severe brain injury and can only edit submissions in Morse code by tapping his catheter against the toilet, but FFS is there NO ONE ELSE on staff who proofreads any of this stuff?
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
All the Indian students at school use WhatsApp. I always thought it was an Indian thing, until I only recently learned that it is actually a Facebook thing.
# service sharing stop
# service needful do
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
It'd be better if they (and anyone else interested in privacy while texting) switched to Trillian. It's free, open-source, and not tied to some giant corporation that makes money by advertising and data collection.
Not b'cos it's cheap, but b'cos it can do 2 things
1. Send photos and videos in messages to people regardless of which phone they have - Androids, iPhones or Lumias
2. In some cases, use it to make VOIP calls or even leave voice messages
Otherwise, the only way to send multimedia is MMS, which has quite a surly reputation in India - being synonymous w/ porn. iPhones are not very popular, except w/ the millionaires there, and so people can't freely use iMessage.
Or Telegram
If not, then what exactly is the effect of:
It's like if a court in Iraq ruled that I had to paint my car red.
What are they gonna do to me (a citizen of the United States, living in the United States) if I don't?
They aren't popular because no one can afford them there, it's a dirty 3rd world country.
That word doesn't mean what you think it does.
P.S. is "with" really that hard to type?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Uh, Samsung Galaxies are very popular, and pretty much own the market. While Microsoft's Lumia, which is an asterisk in the US, is at par w/ iPhones there.
Reason for this is that for an Indian to get many of the apps and games from the Apple store, they have to have an US account, otherwise, the selection is very mediocre. That's different for Play Store or Windows Store, that have no such restrictions. So while it's true that there are Android phones ranging from a number of price points - from Rs 2k to Rs 60k, the fact that one can get any of the apps on the Play store also helps. On the Lumia side, Microsoft has consolidated its phone lineup and offers the 520, the 650 and 950. But on the app front, most of the popular apps in India that get advertized are advertized as being on all 3 - Play Store, iOS and Windows Store, unlike in the US, where it's just the first two.
...pull WhatsApp from India on that day and tell the court "done"
Do they mean like the guy on the Cleveland and Atlanta baseball caps?
but then whom do you sue?
Fakebook and Privacy go together just like matter and anti-matter!
they already have both info.
it was just a notification. whatsapp is facebooo and facebool is whatsapp. opt out of targeted advertising if you want but they still have both info.