Give your data to Facebook or loose your Whats App account

The day has come for Facebook to explicit their intentions.

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While I donā€™t have an account with either of them, and no sympathy whatsoever ā€¦ it should be worth to note from the article that for the time being this seems to apply to India:

"The Facebook-owned messaging service is alerting users in India of an update to its terms of service and privacy policy thatā€™s expected to go into effect next month.
[ā€¦]
Unsurprisingly, this data sharing policy with Facebook and its other services doesnā€™t apply to EU states that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA), which are governed by the GDPR data protection regulations."

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@AnotherElk I tought that too but the message just came over my phone 2 hours ago.

Perhaps this will apply first to the countries that use it the most; India and Brazil are the top two in this list and Iā€™m in Brazil.

I told my family that I would quit WA for good and they complainedā€¦ :smiley:

Iā€™ll probably end up with another phone for just this purpose! :angry:

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The message came through on my UK phone today too. I chose the ā€˜Not nowā€™ option and carried on. Luckily I donā€™t need it for work or family, and the two groups I do use it for (Tai Chi group & Tennis Club) are open to using something more privacy friendly. Iā€™m currently looking at Signal, Telegram and Jami

Lucky you :smiley: @petefoth

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@NoName161
I havenā€™t seen it; my bad.

Ok, if that applies to EU as well, then it is high time to do something about it

See my reply here:

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Incredibleā€¦ Thanks for posting!

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-local-messaging-apps-boom-after-whatsapp-update/2105123

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I suppose it might be hard for some to leave their captors. For most of us using the web, as opposed to just having social and messenging apps, thereā€™s obviously no question.

How do I leave formally? Just close my accounts at whatā€™s app/fb/instagram?
Or will they do that for me?

If my work required me to have accounts, maybe thatā€™d be different. But I wouldnā€™t mix business with personal needs.

I deleted my FB and Instagram now Iā€™ll do the same with WA.
If you donā€™t accept the terms, they will block your account but not erase it AFAIK.

There is also delta chat

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Your employer should provide all the tools needed for you to do your job, including a smartphone if you need it to contact clients. If you are self-employed try to get a used phone online of from a friend, relative, neighbor, etc. and keep it separated from your day to day life.

Sorry to hijack the answer. My institution is giving me all I need. Email, cloud contacts calendar and so on.
Unfortunately it switched from private management to Google services !!

That is unfortunate, but quite honestly data breaches existed well before companies like Google, for many different reasons from info-sec malpractices to straight up theft. Considering the number of such cases popping up everywhere to this very day, itā€™s clear that which company runs your corporate software suite is the least of your concerns. Instead, enforcing policies to ensure data is handled properly should be one of the top priorities regardless of who is handling it.

This is not to say that Iā€™m okay with having any sensitive information such as bank accounts or transaction records handled by a tech-giant whose business model is based on surveillance.

I understand that it may not be just your own data, but also your colleaguesā€™ and customersā€™ (depending on what your company/institution does). However, all things considered, unless you are somehow required/forced to mix personal and work life in order to do your job, I donā€™t think itā€™s such a big deal.

Thanks @PNJ88_Beast. Iā€™m not forced, of course, to mix private and work life.
BUT
what if I have to give infos on my health ?

And what, if I have to give my personal telephone number to access the G services ?

I guess it really depends on why you are required to provide that kind of information. Drug tests and the like are quite common in many workplaces (although you are usually not giving up any previous information), and it might make sense depending on your type of work. You should make a judgment call and decide whether is justifiable according to your circumstances and applicable law.

As for providing a phone number, you should be able to dispute that. It doesnā€™t make sense to use your personal number in order to gain access to a company tool. If it was any other licensed software ie., Photoshop, Microsoft Office or even WinRar, you wouldnā€™t be expected to provide your own license.

Just another information: the WhatsApp policy change will NOT apply to Europe countries!
I`ve seen it around on the Internet like https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55573149
Since Iā€™m in Brazilā€¦ :smile: letā€™s get away from it.

Iā€™ve seen that article too and I donā€™t believe it is completely accurate. See my reply in a different thread, also mentioned in an earlier post