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If you use WhatsApp and you care about your data...
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... Dont use it. The following is from the EFF "who's has your back" report.
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WhatsApp earns one star in this year’s Who Has Your Back report. This is WhatsApp’s first year in the report, and although EFF gave the company a full year to prepare for its inclusion in the report, it has adopted none of the best practices we’ve identified as part of this report. We appreciate the steps that WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook has taken to stand by its users, but there is room for WhatsApp to improve. WhatsApp should publicly require a warrant before turning over user content, publish a law enforcement guide and transparency report, have a stronger policy of informing users of government requests, and disclose its data retention policies. WhatsApp does get credit for Facebook’s public position opposing back doors, and we commend Facebook for that.
Industry-Accepted Best Practices. WhatsApp does not publicly require a warrant before giving content to law enforcement. WhatsApp does not publish a transparency report or a law enforcement guide.
Inform users about government data demands. WhatsApp does not promise to provide advance notice to users about government data demands.
Disclose data retention policies. WhatsApp does not publish information about its data retention policies, including retention of IP addresses and deleted content.
Disclose content removal requests. WhatsApp does not host content nor do we have reason to believe it receives account closure requests domestically, and thus this category is not applicable.
Pro-user public policy: oppose backdoors. In a public, official written format, WhatsApp’ parent company Facebook opposes the compelled inclusion of deliberate security weaknesses. On behalf of itself as well as WhatsApp, Facebook signed a coalition letter organized by the Open Technology Institute, which stated:
We urge you to reject any proposal that U.S. companies deliberately weaken the security of our products… Whether you call them “front doors” or “back doors,” introducing intentional vulnerabilities into secure products for the government’s use will make those products less secure against other attackers. Every computer security expert that has spoken publicly on this issue agrees on this point, including the government’s own experts. |
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By *ezebelWoman
over a year ago
North of The Wall - youll need your vest |
"Can I have an Idiots Version translation please?
Me too it lost me!! "
I dont think its talking about the same back doors and front doors that are often mentioned on here.... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Can I have an Idiots Version translation please?"
What'sapp doesn't disclose anything much to it's users about who can access your information on it.
It doesn't say if law enforcement needs a warrant to access anything you put on what'sapp, same for government access to your data.
So we should presume that both law and gov can access anything on your what'sapp, because they already can do these things for your mobile phone data (if companies comply, which most do). |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Haven't read all that stuff (lost the will to live after sentence 2)
But paranoid Iranian bloke at work says whatsapp has access to all your contacts n data and you agree to this when you sign up
May be true (or not) |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Oh, and we don't know if what'sapp remove things you've put on there or not, nobody knows what stuff they keep and for how long. FB keeps most stuff, even after you delete it, so they'll be presuming what'sapp does the same. |
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By *ezebelWoman
over a year ago
North of The Wall - youll need your vest |
"Oh, and we don't know if what'sapp remove things you've put on there or not, nobody knows what stuff they keep and for how long. FB keeps most stuff, even after you delete it, so they'll be presuming what'sapp does the same."
Thank you. Other than using some very nasty swear words in relation to a colleague yesterday, theres nothing on there Im worried about so they can browse away.... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Haven't read all that stuff (lost the will to live after sentence 2)
But paranoid Iranian bloke at work says whatsapp has access to all your contacts n data and you agree to this when you sign up
May be true (or not)"
Yeah it does. Guys who've given me their number (but i've not contacted so they don't know mine yet), they're in my what'sapp if they have one.
I have all my fb contacts numbers and addresses if they have added them to their profiles. Even those i only added for games.
All social sites do this now, access all your friends personal information that they choose to put on sites, it's to make it easier for you to use the sites and contact your friends using the sites apps, it's a big threat to telecom companies who get less business coz most of this stuff is over the internet and free to use. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Haven't read all that stuff (lost the will to live after sentence 2)
But paranoid Iranian bloke at work says whatsapp has access to all your contacts n data and you agree to this when you sign up
May be true (or not)"
Most apps have that access. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Oh, and we don't know if what'sapp remove things you've put on there or not, nobody knows what stuff they keep and for how long. FB keeps most stuff, even after you delete it, so they'll be presuming what'sapp does the same.
Thank you. Other than using some very nasty swear words in relation to a colleague yesterday, theres nothing on there Im worried about so they can browse away...."
You're welcome.
Sometimes i get a buzz off wondering if anyone who works for the government is reading my dirty texts and seeing my dirty pics haha.  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Haven't read all that stuff (lost the will to live after sentence 2)
But paranoid Iranian bloke at work says whatsapp has access to all your contacts n data and you agree to this when you sign up
May be true (or not)
Most apps have that access."
Yes I guess so
Personally I assume that anything I put online will be read/looked at by the government
I should care (as a Russell Brand lefty fuck the man type).....I'm a bloody hypocrite tbh
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"bit of a nothing story really then !"
Not really.
If my facebook profile had my phone number and address on it then everyone on what'sapp would have those too.
Just by anyone having access to your phone number (including the police and the government) would have loads of personal info of people.
Got a friend on drugs but you didn't know about it and they get arrested? Now the police know you're associated with that person...slippery slope of being suspected of crimes without doing anything. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I love that some people have such amazingly interesting lives on Whatsapp that they just know the government is following them. I don't reckon my convos about my day would tempt them frankly. And i doubt the pics i send are high on their threat list. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Nope if stick my pics up on the internet or anything I do on internet is open to being non private my choice I couldn't care less I am not doing anything illegal |
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As it appears facebook is its owner, it says it all really. That's one company and privacy policy that I loathe. They track people who aren't even its customers and track their own users, even when they've logged out from facebook, viewing what you're doing, buying, reading etc. |
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