Admittedly, I’m a little paranoid. I’m not a current WhatsApp user, and much of my hesitation has been that Facebook owns it. I’m starting to see some potential benefits, but in the back of my mind I can’t help but wonder if FB drilled a backdoor in somewhere and it might not be as secure as it claims to be (I’ve been nervous with FB ever since I figured out it had been tracking my location while not using the app and showed me ads for a specific medical service within a few minutes of me visiting that particular office).
I don’t have anything to hide, but I don’t like the idea of being covertly monitored…I know, I know…I can always go completely off grid.
Have any WhatsApp users found indications that the app is being used (like for advertising) or that the encryption tunnel makes any detours into data mining?
HI
I’ve been using Whatsapp for years and haven’t seen any indication that my interactions generate ads.
Under Settings>Account>Request Account info you can send a request to create a report of your account info. I just did it and apparently I’ll get it within 3 days.
I also do not use WhatsApp for the same reasons as you described. I am not aware of anything shady with WhatsApp but I certainly don’t trust parent company Facebook. Therefore I have elected to not use either as I feel it is just a matter of time before Facebook corrupts WhatsApp.
I would love to not use Whatsapp, but so many of my friends and family use it, it’s difficult not to.
The lack of an iPad app is also very annoying to me. Though I have to admit that its group message features are better than iMessage.
Any how would you notice if all your activities are logged/tracked/whatever? Facebook is in the business of collecting/aggregating user data, so I assume the it’s being done with WhatsApp. Just because you are not getting ads/spam/whatever today does not mean WhatsApp/Facebook are not collecting huge piles of data.
Or do you really believe in the “free” service?
BTW: WhatsApp is not GDPR-compliant, so corporate use is a no-go (EU).