For those in the US, WhatsApp may not sound like much. It is just another messaging app.
However, in many developing and developed nations, WhatsApp runs the world. It is a crucial tool that allows massive levels of personal and commercial communication.
Schools, hospitals, businesses, religion, government offices, hotels, ride-sharing - almost everything use WhatsApp to function smoothly.
In short, WhatsApp is a must-have app for all in these regions. I speak from personal experience and this post doesn't contain any exaggeration! 😃
What’sApp started out as a way to display status messages next to people’s names in a phone’s contacts list. Fifteen years later, the app has become a lot more, Pranav Dixit writes in an article for Engadget. Among other things, Dixit calls What’sApp “an integral part of the propaganda machinery of political parties in India and Brazil, a way for millions of businesses to reach customers..." Read more about how What’sApp became the world’s default communication app. https://flip.it/RbTH99 #Tech#Technology#SocialMedia#WhatsApp
@ErikJonker Moving from whatsap to signal is a good step. Moving to Element (Matrix protocol) an even better one. Because:
Signal is still US-based so similarly conflicted wrt eu-us diclosure- an privacylaws. Element/Matrix is EU based.
Matrix network is distributed by design (like mastodon) and has fully open api for any third-party client (like mastodon) #element#matrix#signal#whatsapp
Tras lo sucedido en #España es admirable ver la cantidad de personas con el valor y mente inquieta suficientes para usar algo que no sea #Whatsapp.
Si bien #Telegram tiene funciones muy útiles por las que lo he recomendado como alternativa para quienes ven bien tener su mensajería instantánea ligada a su número de teléfono (lo ideal es que no), iniciativas como la #P2PL me parecen nefastas de cara a la mayoría de usuarios y una excusa para abaratar costes del servicio. https://telegram.org/tos/p2pl
Meta is adding phone home functionality to #WhatsApp so it can add an #AI chatbot. What could possibly go wrong?
Remember Cambridge Analytica. Stop using #Meta products. Just switch to @signalapp . Most people have done so already and are only forced to keep WhatsApp for the stragglers.
So, I've been arguing with myself over whether I should resurrect my #Telegram account or not. From various sources, I get the impression that their platform isn't all that secure despite their claims. If memory serves, one of the sources said they wouldn't trust it with anything more than a casual conversation, and definitely wouldn't trust it with more sensitive topics. I'm not interested in using #Meta services, so things like #Messenger & #WhatsApp are not options I'd consider. At this point, my messaging options are #Signal and #Matrix even though the latter isn't the most #accessible option. Heck, when you get down to it, the former has a few accessibility annoyances on #Android which is the mobile platform I use. Decisions, decisions...
The #DigitalMarketsAct mandates Meta to "enable end users to freely choose to opt-in to [combining or cross-using personal data] by offering a less personalised but equivalent alternative".
When I pointed out to Meta that by offering users to either #consent to #SurveillanceAds or pay € 275 per year for #Instagram & #Facebook isn't "equivalent alternative" they said, Meta has to do that because of #GDPR 😤 Really??
Ouh, so I just asked #Meta/#WhatsApp whether #interoperability with @matrix (should they request it) would apply to @element Inc, the Matrix.org reference server, or the entire federation?
Answer: probably the legal entity, so either Element Inc or the Matrix Foundation. I assume they would have to choose which server this includes.
But (did I hear that correctly?) the Meta person almost sounded as if a broadening to the federation could potentially be envisaged in the future.
In any event, it sounds like #WhatsApp is planning to make #interoperability opt-in only; but not in the way I suggested, which is give WA users a yes/no button when a non-WA user asks to connect, just like #Signal does already for Signal users.
I interpret #Meta's response to my question as meaning that WA users will have to actively switch on interop in the settings before people can ping them.
Kleines Projekt für den Sonntag Abend: Schreibe Deinen 10 oder 20 wichtigsten WhatsApp-Kontakten, dass Du ab jetzt gern bevorzugt Signal nutzen würdest. Meine Erfahrung ist: Natürlich gibt es vereinzelt Unverständnis, aber man findet auch immer jemanden, der schon längst gerne wechseln wollte und sich nicht zu fragen traute.
Traut Euch! 😄
P.S. Denkt dran, Euren Signal-Nutzernamen mitzuteilen.
RWAs are waging a war against Muslims—within societies, on WhatsApp groups
The larger national mood and conversations about hijab and namaz are percolating to the lowest citizen groups, the RWAs. Muslim residents are self-censoring and keeping a low profile and visibility to avoid trouble.
Je crois que ma prochaine méthode pour faire comprendre que je n'utilise plus #WhatsApp, ce sera de répondre à un message écrit WhatsApp... Par SMS.
Ça passe crème avec certaines personnes.
#EU#DMA#WhatsApp#Cybersecurity#Interoperability#Encryption: "Europe’s DMA mandates that interoperability should not weaken security and privacy: “The level of security—including end-to-end encryption where applicable—that the gatekeeper provides to its own end-users shall be preserved across the interoperable services.”
This was always going to be a near impossibility. End-to-end encryption with endpoint assurance clearly only works where the two “ends” can actually be assured, which means—realistically—they are the same. Two WhatsApp or iMessage or Signal apps. DMA envisages a world where Signal messages might be sent to WhatApp users. And that so-called interoperability, by its very nature, breaks that model.
As EFF warned back in 2022, “requiring interoperability without unacceptable tradeoffs in security or privacy is a very high hurdle, one that might turn out to be insurmountable.”
I still have a happy social life and I am totally satisfied with the wonderful communication I have in the #fediverse since 2018. On my own instance. Because decentralisation ;)
(I still miss Google+, apologies if that doesn't fit your agenda ;)
🔒 Meta announces plans for interoperability between #WhatsApp, Messenger, and third-party messaging services, maintaining end-to-end #encryption in response to the EU's Digital Markets Act.
Pakistan has sentenced a 22-year-old student to death over photos and videos he is believed to have shared over WhatsApp. The BBC has the details: https://flip.it/Z-1IVV