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dmitrygr 4 hours ago

I understand my agreement with WhatsApp - i read it and all. I have no agreement with that other app. I do not know what they would do with my data. Until they give me a privacy policy and i approve it, they indeed should have none of my data. Opt-in is the correct solution.

I am not even sure how this is GDPR-compliant (that app is European and thus must care about GDPR). They do not have my permission to have/handle my private data, and GDPR does not allow WhatAspp to hand it over without my permission either... My name (which whatsapp exposes simply with my phone number) is considered PII under GDPR and

lxgr 4 hours ago | parent [-]

What a strange way to think about a telecommunications service. By the same logic, shouldn’t there be a privacy policy for regular old phone lines? Who knows which third parties are between you and the person on the other end!

And speaking about the other end: I have bad news about all the data you share with untrustworthy contacts on WhatsApp…

Quite practically, anyone that enables backups (which WhatsApp heavily nudges people to do) uploads a copy of all your messages and media sent to them to a cloud provider you have no privacy agreement with.

dmitrygr 3 hours ago | parent [-]

old telephone lines did not disclose info about me with merely my phone number. whataspp discloses name, picture, status

As for your second comment, updated first comment with:

I am not even sure how this is GDPR-compliant if that app is European. They do not have my permission to have my private data, and GDPR does not allow whatAspp to hand it over without my permission either...

direwolf20 25 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Several people have scraped every possible phone number from WhatsApp so they know your name, picture, and status if they want it.

mlrtime 19 minutes ago | parent [-]

So, that doesn't mean we give it away freely because someone was malicious. That makes no sense.

direwolf20 15 minutes ago | parent [-]

It's already given away freely. Anyone who has WhatsApp can add you as a contact and see this information.

xmcp123 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Old telephones had caller ID. They would send your name and company.

You did have to initiate the call, but you still didn’t have any kind of agreement about it.

mlrtime 18 minutes ago | parent [-]

Yes, and you used to have to pay for it! Not only was it opt-in, there was a charge.

lxgr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> whataspp discloses name, picture, status

Only to who you choose to make it available to. And if you choose “everybody”, I don’t see how you can reasonably expect this to mean “everybody not using third-party software”?

mlrtime 17 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Because I don't chose everybody? I don't want everyone to see my information, why would I?

dmitrygr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Because until today that IS what it meant! Are you claiming that "pray i do not change the deal further" is a sane approach?

lxgr 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I just don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation of a telecommunications tool, so yeah, I think it’s a fair change well within the norms and expectations of an instant messenger.

You should get to control how/ to whom your data is distributed, but also requiring these recipients to only use software and services of your choosing seems excessive. Platform lock-in at this point seems like the much greater harm.

I could see the case for a small indicator in the contact details that they’re using a third-party client, but anything more (green bubbles?) would be counterproductive.

mlrtime 16 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

It's not requiring, thats the point of BirdyChat, right? You just have to opt-in to use it.

dmitrygr 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

i did not ask for green bubbles, nor did whatsapp implement that. they let me opt-in to communicate with questionable clients and i am here for it.

direwolf20 25 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

I am using a third-party app. I am using a Samsung OS to see your messages, which is not from Meta. Do you object to this?