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WhatsApp Ordered To Stop Sharing User Data With Facebook (theverge.com)
France's privacy watchdog CNIL has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with its parent company Facebook. According to a public notice posted on the French website, WhatsApp has a month to comply with the order. The Verge reports: The query began after WhatsApp added to its terms of service last year that it shares data with Facebook to develop targeted advertising, security measures, and to gather business intelligence. Upon investigating these claims, the CNIL ruled that while WhatsApp's intention of improving security measures was valid, the app's business intelligence reason wasn't as acceptable. After all, WhatsApp never told its users it was collecting data for business intelligence and there's no way to opt out without uninstalling the app. That violates "the fundamental freedoms of users," said the CNIL.
What is a WhatsApp? (No, I won't google it. The summary ought to tell me what a WhatsApp is.)
If you believe a single word that Facebook or their vassal companies says about privacy or data sharing, then you deserve to be tracked by them. They're not stopping shit: they're going to store and exploit everything they possibly can. The regulators won't be able to tell what's going on anyway, and as a final option there's always paying lobbyists or using blackmail (government employees give plenty of information to FB too).
And will be forever uninstalled. If you see something and Facebook mentioned in the same sentence, it means to can no longer trust the $something
Good luck enforcing that.
Oh and what the fuck is up with this retarded shit that does nothing to deter trolls and spammers?
If you intentionally use an app bought by Facebook, which puts the world's (2nd?) biggest data harvester between you and all your fiends, you can't really claim innocence here. What did you think they were going to do?
People using shit like this are the problem with the modern internet. You are voting to replace the whole formerly open and free thing with a few advertising companies controlling all of it.
to believe that WhatsApp is perfectly safe to use simply because it uses code from Whisper and think that Facefarm ownership has nothing to do with its privacy. I've argued against that notion before on here and it clearly upsets users and the denial is very real. If you want true privacy, use Signal on cellphone ONLY or use a Tox client. If you use a Chrome app/addon or electron-based program for Telegram or Signal, you're an idiot.
The WhatsApp app is terrible -- it demands that you give it access to all of your phone contacts before you're allowed to start sending messages with it. You can't block contact access and just tell it to message a specific number.
Bad design, but fits right in with FB's data mining plans.
"After all, WhatsApp never told its users it was collecting data for business intelligence and there's no way to opt out without uninstalling the app. That violates "the fundamental freedoms of users," said the CNIL."
No, that's the "trying to have your cake and it it, too" freedom. If it's free, you're the product. No way around that, short of opting out. If enough people do it, well, then the business model might change.
Another terrible thing is that when you change phones you lose your chat history.
I'd call that a feature!
What's so important about past chats anyway? Chat away about whatever, move on. Another day, another round. Photos etc can be saved as desired.
I installed Whatsapp because it is very popular in Europe. For those who do not know, it is telephone number based chatting with ability to attach photos and voice memos to a chat, and now you can call for free through Whatsapp. It is useful for meeting up with a team at the hotel for example when you are all arriving at different times. I found groups stay active even long after a project ends though. I did not realize this info is going to Facebook though and I really don't like the idea that what is a critical business tool could be used to let FB stalk me or my colleagues even if they don't have FB. Just another input to their social network analyzer but personally I try not to use FB and only have an account in defense. I'm older skool and don't feel comfortable tweeting all my activities to the entire world where it is archived forever. If Whatsapp told me they would feed my activity to FB I would have brought it up at a meeting and suggested something else like email maybe.
Ban water NOW!
Ten years ago, we were saying information wants to be free. Now, wee changed our minds, and we believe it should be owned.
but...but...but...free appz!