Facebook to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger

[zappaDPJ]

Facebook plans to integrate its messaging services on Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

While all three will remain stand-alone apps, at a much deeper level they will be linked so messages can travel between the different services.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47001460

I use WhatsApp daily so I'm a little concerned how this might affect my privacy.

 

[doubt]

I use WhatsApp daily so I'm a little concerned how this might affect my privacy.

There isn't much to lose, I believe:

WhatsApp Messenger is a freeware and cross-platform messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) service owned by Facebook. The application allows the sending of text messages and voice calls, as well as video calls, images and other media, documents, and user location.

 

[User37935]

I use WhatsApp daily so I'm a little concerned how this might affect my privacy.

Likewise. I have always worked on the basis Facebook has already scraped off just about everything there it to know about me from my use of it (IPs, contacts etc) so it's probably too late to worry. I have explored alternatives, Telegram looks and feels the same but it's getting friends and family into using a different app. And of course any alternatives are also vulnerable to your data/privacy being abused by someone else.

Interesting in the news article they mention the original founders of Instagram and WhatApp left because of this.

 

[User37935]

OK I have explored alternatives and found this to be the most secure:

 

[haqzore]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47001460

I use WhatsApp daily so I'm a little concerned how this might affect my privacy.

It won't at all.

Facebook already owns them all. Has for years. You already have no privacy to lose.

 

[zappaDPJ]

It won't at all.

Facebook already owns them all. Has for years. You already have no privacy to lose.

In terms of Facebook running riot with my data I agree. It's the potential interaction between apps on a user to user level that I'm more concerned about.

 

[southernlady]

OK I have explored alternatives and found this to be the most secure:

View attachment 52342

However, in the early days it was shared (party lines). Then there operators who could lister in, and later wire taps. Even the supposedly secure red phone, it could be hacked.

 

[LeadCrow]

Whatsapp is the easiest to ditch. Simply pick up Telegram, endorse its use to contacts and relatives, and you'll enjoy a superior experience overnight.
You'll also be exposed to a lot less of the fluff youre constantly subjected to on Facebook and Whatsapp.

 

[haqzore]

Whatsapp is the easiest to ditch. Simply pick up Telegram, endorse its use to contacts and relatives, and you'll enjoy a superior experience overnight.
You'll also be exposed to a lot less of the fluff youre constantly subjected to on Facebook and Whatsapp.

Wrong.

What's better, unfortunately, makes no difference. Convincing everyone you interact with to all migrate platforms is an almost impossible task.

Because then, all the people THEY interact with need to migrate. . And so on..

 

[LeadCrow]

It's a lot easier to migrate away as groups rather than an individual. Eventually network effect will ensure the rest of your contacts will follow, but it's certainly unrealistic to expect everyone will.

Do note that starting this year, migrating away and remaining accessible to holdouts could become a lot easier as companies like FB, Twitter and Digg pledged to follow crossnetwork compatibility rules for migrating user data in a format readable by other social networks. 'Federated' networks like Mastodon should benefit tremendously from this.

More on this
- https://venturebeat.com/2018/07/20/...and-twitter-launch-the-data-transfer-project/
- https://www.computerworld.com/artic...ook-and-google-in-data-portability-group.html
- http://www.dataportability.org/

 

[doubt]

Microsoft wants a share from the income as well.
Surprise from Skype:

PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW ...

Abc Def Ghi...

Say hi to Abc with a wave.

No I did not say anything to any of the names.

 

[truthingtotruth]

Okey-dokey, I am now going to demonstrate some real stupidity here, so please try and be sort of nice before you slay me with your words.

Firstly, I just don't like using the Net for any sort of message style stuff. This has caused me a fair bit of trouble over the years as people insist I can trust this or that tool for message sending and receiving. The past year or so was really bad with a certain group I have/had dealings with at Google.

What I am getting at is I don't know a whole bunch about the software of these message systems and reliability of said software; nor do I know the ups and downs of their share prices over the past few years.

BUT I thought this Facebook company was getting dragged through the mud because the owner was making some sort of mistakes and that the company was not doing so hot? Now I read they are in some sort of hotshot getting married thingy and it seems that nobody is surprised, except some stupid jerk like me.

Facebook is really such a gold mine?

 

[R0binHood]

Facebook is really such a gold mine?

Yes. And even though they've had a lot of bad press, they're doing just fine. The copious amounts of data they continue to hoover up about every user as they use their services allows them to sell massive amounts of advertising to those who want high quality granular targetting of those users.

It's a lot easier to migrate away as groups rather than an individual. Eventually network effect will ensure the rest of your contacts will follow, but it's certainly unrealistic to expect everyone will.

A few of my core What'sApp chat groups have started to migrate to Signal. However I don't see how I'll ever be able to completely uninstall What'sApp or Messenger at this point. It's too valuable to business, and I think that's a big part of the reason for the merge. If businesses can be linked to this one system, allowing customers from any of these 3 platform to message that business at a single point of management, buy products from that business, or send money directly to that business then they will have a tough time leaving if that's what the customers want.

It seems Facebook are trying pretty hard to emulate the Chinese WeChat "SuperApp" model behind the scenes where they can roll everything into one platform.

 

[craigForo]

OK I have explored alternatives and found this to be the most secure:

View attachment 52342

What is it?

 

[R0binHood]

OK I have explored alternatives and found this to be the most secure:

View attachment 52342

I find it's harder for governments to listen in on this line

 

[truthingtotruth]

Yes. And even though they've had a lot of bad press, they're doing just fine. The copious amounts of data they continue to hoover up about every user as they use their services allows them to sell massive amounts of advertising to those who want high quality granular targetting of those users.

< < < truncated > > >

Just wish to place a thank you here, R0binHood.

I really am in the dark about the financial status of a lot of the powers-that-be on the Net. Facebook being one of those.

 

[Woldemort]

In europe they are trying not to make him do this embedding, sincerely, the facebook apps are a bit of pain, or rather, they are heavy and are weighed more and more, if whatsapp becomes so then that is a problem ... touch go to telegram

 

[yeswecan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47001460

I use WhatsApp daily so I'm a little concerned how this might affect my privacy.

You should start thinking about leaving WhatsApp and use a messenger instead, which is not selling all the data of your friends in your addressbook

There is Threema and Signal. Both very secure and they protect your data and the data of your friends in your addressbook. I really do not understand why in 2019 people still are tolerating the business model of WhatsApp and Facebook... There are better alternatives out there. Read more here:

https://whythreema.com/

 

[Lisa]

They're heavily pushing IG images in FB Page posts. Any time a post gets made, it pops up asking if we want to add an IG image to it. The majority of IG users aren't link-clickers (in fact, you can't even post a clickable link on IG) so I'm not really sure what benefit they think they're offering with it right now.

 

[WildNeonSins]

They're heavily pushing IG images in FB Page posts. Any time a post gets made, it pops up asking if we want to add an IG image to it. The majority of IG users aren't link-clickers (in fact, you can't even post a clickable link on IG) so I'm not really sure what benefit they think they're offering with it right now.

On my page I've only been getting annoying pop ups asking if I want to add photos to my post because people allegedly respond more to them.
Haven't seen any references to IG.