WhatsApp mandatory data sharing with Facebook

Soldato
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I think I signed up for FB in the early 2000 but only used it a few times -= Not been on for 15yrs or more so will I have to agree on WhatsApp.
I only had WA because it used WiFi and I was on PAYG phone - now calls are free I could dump it but it would be pain to get rid of it.
 
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I chose to cut people off rather than use FB. I commutate by sms or whatsapp atm.

Indeed remember the joy catching up socially with an unseen friend? Facebook ruined this for many people. There are people i could sign up now and talk too but it will totally ruin the experience and catch up of when we come face to face.
 
Man of Honour
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They will just buy up signal for a billion and repeat the process... People must adapt to the reality that big tech have become sinister and big brother wants your data. For all we know there could be a foreign goverment behind these apps harvesting it. Mossad would have the money and means easily the APP can probably track you partially i bet too. I do not think this to really be tinfoil hat stuff because big tech have proven themselves recently to be exactly like this.
Realistically you are right. We will have to get used to it because many people can't see the issue and are not bothered by it. But what we should do is all be prepared to move platform every time it happens. We won't though, for reasons mentioned.
 
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Indeed remember the joy catching up socially with an unseen friend? Facebook ruined this for many people. There are people i could sign up now and talk too but it will totally ruin the experience and catch up of when we come face to face.

IDK for me it doesn't change it, meeting up with someone in person is sufficiently different and more special.


I chose to cut people off rather than use FB. I commutate by sms or whatsapp atm.

Probably a bit of a generational thing. I have disabled my Facebook account a few times, but I could never disable Facebook Messenger because that is the only place that the vast majority of people I know are contactable.

Most of my friends are 20 - 30 years old with a few outliers at either end of the scale. If I were 10 years older I think the people I knew would be more active via SMS and such, and would be more willing to adapt.
 
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Realistically you are right. We will have to get used to it because many people can't see the issue and are not bothered by it. But what we should do is all be prepared to move platform every time it happens. We won't though, for reasons mentioned.

My idea is for the UK Goverment to create a privacy based messenger APP that is designed to make the life of all citizens better. It will be taxpayer funded, Free, Encrypted and overseen by an independant panel free from Goverment intervention and anti terrorism laws.

It would also go hand in hand with limited free WIFI at every payphone box. The Wifi only works with whats APP though when the two pass each other a key then you get access to free whatsAPP calls within reach of the payphone box.
 
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Probably a bit of a generational thing. I have disabled my Facebook account a few times, but I could never disable Facebook Messenger because that is the only place that the vast majority of people I know are contactable.

I bet you could communicate with them another way. :p You ever heard of a phone number? Do you know what that's for?

My idea is for the UK Goverment to create a privacy based messenger APP that is designed to make the life of all citizens better. It will be taxpayer funded, Free, Encrypted and overseen by an independant panel free from Goverment intervention and anti terrorism laws.

It would also go hand in hand with limited free WIFI at every payphone box. The Wifi only works with whats APP though when the two pass each other a key then you get access to free whatsAPP calls within reach of the payphone box.

You trust the government to not snoop on you? lol GET OUT OF THIS THREAD.
 

Pho

Pho

Soldato
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My idea is for the UK Goverment to create a privacy based messenger APP that is designed to make the life of all citizens better. It will be taxpayer funded, Free, Encrypted and overseen by an independant panel free from Goverment intervention and anti terrorism laws.

It would also go hand in hand with limited free WIFI at every payphone box. The Wifi only works with whats APP though when the two pass each other a key then you get access to free whatsAPP calls within reach of the payphone box.

lol the current Government wanted to ban end-to-end encryption because "terrorists", but actually I imagine because they're super jealous of all the data Facebook etc have that they can't get to.

Signal is open-source anyway, so literally anyone can clone it and make their own version even if it did get bought out: https://github.com/signalapp
 
Caporegime
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I bet you could communicate with them another way. :p You ever heard of a phone number? Do you know what that's for?

A what? They have numbers? :confused: :p

My idea is for the UK Goverment to create a privacy based messenger APP that is designed to make the life of all citizens better. It will be taxpayer funded, Free, Encrypted and overseen by an independant panel free from Goverment intervention and anti terrorism laws.


pqeBwpe.gif
 
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lol the current Government wanted to ban end-to-end encryption because "terrorists", but actually I imagine because they're super jealous of all the data Facebook etc have that they can't get to.

Signal is open-source anyway, so literally anyone can clone it and make their own version even if it did get bought out: https://github.com/signalapp

Yea i know :(


But who else could you really get to do such a thing? You need someone you can hold to account, And someone who will never be bought out by big tech for a billion. I did not think open source could achieve the same level of efficency to be honest. But i am well aware of how nasty our Goverment is as well. Recently they passed laws so children can become informers and spies Google that one!


It reminded me of that story of the boy in the Soviet Union who did this on his own family and his father was sent to jail. And his father ended up killing his own son and they made him a hero of the Soviet Union.
 

Pho

Pho

Soldato
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Yea i know :(


But who else could you really get to do such a thing? You need someone you can hold to account, And someone who will never be bought out by big tech for a billion. I did not think open source could achieve the same level of efficency to be honest. But i am well aware of how nasty our Goverment is as well. Recently they passed laws so children can become informers and spies Google that one!


It reminded me of that story of the boy in the Soviet Union who did this on his own family and his father was sent to jail. And his father ended up killing his own son and they made him a hero of the Soviet Union.

The Government can't even make a spreadsheet to track Covid cases properly :p, and they'd probably end up subbing the work out to Serco or someone who'd cream off a huge amount of taxpayer money.

A trusted group like the EFF (https://www.eff.org/) and/or Apache (https://www.apache.org/) would probably be the best option. EFF campaign for privacy and Apache maintain a lot of open software.

I can't imagine Signal etc going rogue anytime soon though. Security researchers etc can (and I assume do) pour over all their code to look for dodgy changes anyway.
 
Man of Honour
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My idea is for the UK Goverment to create a privacy based messenger APP that is designed to make the life of all citizens better. It will be taxpayer funded, Free, Encrypted and overseen by an independant panel free from Goverment intervention and anti terrorism laws.
You mean like WeChat in China? I'm not convinced that's the right direction :)

The US have already introduced a bill which mandates a backdoor for any system with encryption to allow government agencies to spy on people without a court order. I would far prefer an open source solution although I'm not sure whether that would get around the problem or not.
 
Man of Honour
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But who else could you really get to do such a thing? You need someone you can hold to account, And someone who will never be bought out by big tech for a billion. I did not think open source could achieve the same level of efficency to be honest.

What is needed is an open source protocol which anyone can build around (as Signal is open source their Signal Protocol would do). Then any company can build their own messaging app which will be inter-operable with all other apps using the same protocol. After-all that's what helped make the web so successful. Different companies can build whatever into their app that they want, including monitoring and data collection. The user can then choose which app they prefer based on the features offered and whether they accept data mining, etc.
 
Caporegime
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What is needed is an open source protocol which anyone can build around (as Signal is open source their Signal Protocol would do). Then any company can build their own messaging app which will be inter-operable with all other apps using the same protocol. After-all that's what helped make the web so successful. Different companies can build whatever into their app that they want, including monitoring and data collection. The user can then choose which app they prefer based on the features offered and whether they accept data mining, etc.

Doesn't WhatsApp already is the Signal Protocol? It just does other things as well.
 
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Doesn't WhatsApp already is the Signal Protocol? It just does other things as well.

oh my well spotted;
Signal Protocol - Wikipedia

Signal's new calling system uses the Signal Protocol for end-to-end encryption. In November 2014, Open Whisper Systems announced a partnership with WhatsApp to provide end-to-end encryption by incorporating the Signal Protocol into each WhatsApp client platform.
 
Soldato
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oh my well spotted;
Signal Protocol - Wikipedia

Signal's new calling system uses the Signal Protocol for end-to-end encryption. In November 2014, Open Whisper Systems announced a partnership with WhatsApp to provide end-to-end encryption by incorporating the Signal Protocol into each WhatsApp client platform.


Brian Acton(signal cofounder) walked out of facebook when they wanted to add adverts and such.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyo...efacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/

I was hoping that Brian Acton would have a new app out by now.

So he is helping Signal to take on whatsapp.
 
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