the net effect will be somewhat more precisely targeted ads…. I don’t get the paranoia
@dfay It is far more than that. Here is but ONE example; I presume you are already aware of the scandal: Cambridge Analytica.
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The problem is that it’s not the ads, it’s the information presented to you overall.
If providers target you based on your profile, how are you to know you can even get a balanced view? (think elections and news f.e.)
Also: how can you be certain the price you’re seeing is the best price if the first pages of entries in a Google search f.e. are paid entries?
I could go on and on, but targeting based on user profile imo is just about the worst thing that has happened to us over the past decades.
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There may be some truth to the this, given Apple’s recent changes to IOS features. But your point is directly contradicted by Facebook’s stated terms of service that was scheduled to be effective earlier this year - February, I believe. Facebook delayed the mandatory acceptance of its new TOS due to intense criticism, but its intent is clear. Facebook explicitly wants access to EVERYTHING in your phone, according to the stated Terms of Service.
Speaking of contacts - this is exactly the information that I would never want Facebook to have! There is unlimited mischief that Facebook could employ by linking what it knows about you with what it knows about your contacts.
While I refuse to install or use anything Facebook-related, my wife has WhatsApp installed on her iPhone to communicate with two friends who live in Europe and who do not use iPhones. She uses WhatsApp in a degraded manner, not allowing the app access to her contacts. Incoming and outgoing messages are identified only by phone number, but this is manageable because there are only two other users to keep up with. So far my wife has denied acceptance of WhatsApp’s new Terms of Service, but she is operating on borrowed time. We are encouraging the two friends to switch to Signal.
@JKoopmanns is correct on the point that targeting based on user profile (along with algorithmic amplification, targeting news, ad and information feeds and engagement manipulation) is just about the worst thing that has happened to us over the years. Facebook is a destructive force in our society.
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Its irresponsible for a company to require whatsapp or even permit its use for company related communication. There are so many reasons why but a big one is that people take all their whatsapp messages with them when they depart the company. Advocate for a proper intra-company messaging service eg slack, Hangouts or Teams.
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I agree with you 100% and if you’re not comfortable in installing FB apps don’t do it (I’m not completely comfortable in using WA in the way I described too).
I get your point, but this looks like a problem of trust in Apple statement that if you restrict an app access to something on your device the app is prohibited to access to that resource. If this is not true Apple has a serious problem. I guess iOS 15 will improve control over this.
Well, this is another interesting point IMO: I got to speak to a privacy lawyer friend that made a comparison of the TOS before and after the change, and in terms of how much FB mines from the device nothing really changed: they changed the wording, but the substance didn’t worsen (the analysis was about TOS in Europe, so the situation in the IS may be different).
Some interesting musings on WhatsApp here: