https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/whatsapp-ceo-on-the-controversy-surrounding-proposed-german-communications-laws-a-2e6f4c52-4a39-4117-8199-1606e1f3ac87
Cathcart: Let me be very clear: We cannot read your messages, we cannot listen to your calls. When you send your location over WhatsApp, we do not know where you are.
DER SPIEGEL: But you do save data about your users like the device ID, the phone model, the WhatsApp user name, the phone book and thereby also the numbers of all their contacts, right?
DER SPIEGEL: Apple has recently introduced privacy labels that resemble nutritional labels about what kind of data an app collects and what it doesn’t. Why don’t you do something similar?
DER SPIEGEL: A new German law, if passed, would mean that WhatsApp would have to hand over account data to law enforcement. Do you hand over data about your customers to government agencies?
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more on WhatsApp in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=whatsapp
It’s time to accept that disinformation is a cyber security issue from r/technology
https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Its-time-to-accept-that-disinformation-is-a-cyber-security-issue
Misinformation and disinformation are rife, but so far it’s been seen as a challenge for policy-makers and big tech, including social media platforms.
The sheer volume of data being created makes it hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. From destroying 5G towers to conspiracies like QAnon and unfounded concern about election fraud, distrust is becoming the default – and this can have incredibly damaging effects on society.
So far, the tech sector – primarily social media companies, given that their platforms enable fake news to spread exponentially – have tried to implement some measures, with varying levels of success. For example, WhatsApp has placed a stricter limit on its message-forwarding capability and Twitter has begun to flag misleading posts.
the rise of tech startups that are exploring ways to detect and stem the flow of disinformation, such Right of Reply, Astroscreen and Logically.
disinformation has the potential to undermine national security
Data breaches result in the loss of value, but so can data manipulation
https://www.spiegel.de/international/tomorrow/digital-violence-olimpia-coral-s-fight-on-behalf-of-the-women-of-mexico-a-b1da72f2-b720-4102-849a-d5a02def7d58
The recently published report “Free to Be Online?” by Plan International found that more than half of the 14,000 girls and young women surveyed worldwide have experienced online harassment or abuse.
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more on privacy in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=privacy
WhatsApp now lets you post ephemeral messages that disappear after 7 days
Ephemerality has been one of the most radical and sticky features in messaging in years — it has now been around for close to a decade. And it has arguably been the defining feature for one of the runaway, viral hits of the genre, Snapchat — so much so that clones of the feature have popped up in a number of other apps, from those focused first and foremost on privacy like Signal and Telegram, through to those that are aimed at more casual consumer audiences, like WhatsApp today.
And there could be signs that Facebook is may be looking to roll this out in other apps in its stable, too. Earlier this year it tested disappearing messages in Instagram, which now works officially.
As with the storage changes, the new disappearing feature will not be switched on for users by default: you have to proactively change the settings.
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more on Whatsapp in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=whatsapp
French privacy watchdog raps WhatsApp over Facebook data sharing
France’s data privacy watchdog may fine messaging app WhatsApp if it does not comply with an order to bring its sharing of user data with parent company Facebook into line with French privacy law.
Separately, Germany’s cartel office said on Tuesday it had found Facebook had abused its dominant market position, in a ruling that questioned the company’s model of monetizing the personal data of its users through targeted advertising.
My note: it seems the EU is gearing toward in increase scrutiny of social media giants regarding users’ privacy:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/01/05/tinder-dating-privacy/
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more on privacy in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=privacy
#techworkshop important shifts in #SocialMedia : #WhatsApp ahead of #Facebook in #SocialMessaging @SCSULIB 290 http://ow.ly/ryL7P
Messenger Wars: How Facebook lost its lead
http://www.slideshare.net/OnDevice/messenger-wars-how-facebook-lost-its-lead?utm_source=slideshow&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=weekly_digest
FaceBook is the giant in social networking but WhatsApp has taken the lead in social messaging on mobile
