Google looking to purchase WhatsApp: rumour

I'm so glad they denied the rumour. Whatsapp seems like an awesome company it would be a shame for it to fall into the hands of Google.
 
LOL, considering that everyone is going to be paying for the internet usage anytime soon like everyone else :-)
 
diabolus said:
Yea, on the PC you can do all this, what do you use on your phone ? Google even specifically ban these apps that dodge their advertisements in the app store (i.e. apps that allow you to download youtube vids before watching it )
Click to expand...

On iOS I use Mecury Browser (great at blocking adds) and for downloading video's Amerigo is the best.
 
abandonallhope said:
Just too clever aren't we ?

1. That scummy app needs root privileges
2. Youtube app will still have the adds
Click to expand...

1. My phone is rooted. Not my problem if yours isn't
2. That 'scummy' app is open source, and widely used. Any 'scummy' action will very quickly be exposed
3. Nope
 
HapticSimian said:
1. My phone is rooted. Not my problem if yours isn't
2. That 'scummy' app is open source, and widely used. Any 'scummy' action will very quickly be exposed
3. Nope
Click to expand...

1. And it's also not your problem that the staggering majority of cellphone users have no interest in rooting their phones. My phone is rooted, because the factory installed android OS cannot run on it anywhere near smooth on a 1ghz single core with 768MB RAM.

2. Scummy enough for Google Play :
AdAway was removed from Google Play
I received an email from Google Play that AdAway was removed due to "Violation of section 4.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement." Thus, it will never be available on Google Play again.
Click to expand...

3. I'm quite sure I used ad-away myself and it I still got adds in the YT app, but especially in light of the above, I think yes.
 
abandonallhope said:
1. And it's also not your problem that the staggering majority of cellphone users have no interest in rooting their phones. My phone is rooted, because the factory installed android OS cannot run on it anywhere near smooth on a 1ghz single core with 768MB RAM.
Click to expand...
I don't much care about anyone else's experience; mine isn't affected by theirs. If ads bother you that much, there are ways to block them. If you can't manage to, get a Blackberry or something equally archaic.

abandonallhope said:
2. Scummy enough for Google Play :
Click to expand...
News flash, Skippy: Google might not like their own app store being used to distribute applications that block their main revenue stream. That's their prerogative. It's mine to block ads anyway


abandonallhope said:
3. So in light of the above, I think yes.
Click to expand...
Still nope, but nice try.
 
HapticSimian said:
I don't much care about anyone else's experience; mine isn't affected by theirs.
Click to expand...
Their experience is why android is where it is. If android only catered for leethaxx0rs who root and customise their phone on a daily basis, downloading and installing apk's and potentially opening their phones up to all kinds of malware, it would still be way down in the depths of obscurity as far as the overall cellphone market is concerned.

News flash, Skippy: Google might not like their own app store being used to distribute applications that block their main revenue stream.
Click to expand...
I though that's what I said, but ok. sure.

That's their prerogative. It's mine to block ads anyway
Click to expand...
And nobody's gonna tell you what you can or cannot do !

Still nope, but nice try.
Click to expand...
Brickwall
 
abandonallhope said:
Their experience is why android is where it is. If android only catered for leethaxx0rs who root and customise their phone on a daily basis, downloading and installing apk's and potentially opening their phones up to all kinds of malware, it would still be way down in the depths of obscurity as far as the overall cellphone market is concerned.
Click to expand...
Oh, look! It's False Dichotomy Man!

It's not an either/or situation, and Android (or any sufficiently transparent system) caters for the whole range between extremes.


abandonallhope said:
I though that's what I said, but ok. sure.
Click to expand...
You have a novel definition of 'scummy' then.


abandonallhope said:
And nobody's gonna tell you what you can or cannot do !
Click to expand...
Within reason, with my own property? Youbetcha. Not all of us need constant adult supervision.


abandonallhope said:
Brickwall
Click to expand...
Indeed.
 
Adaway user here also run with Adblock plus in my browsers.(Including FF on my phone) Its their job to shove ads in my face.... its mine to simply ignore em or get some means of removing most of them.

The way some people behave in here you would swear that they sit and watch all the ads on TV as well, and not; take a leak or do something while the ads are on screen, they also never fast forward ads on recorded media either?

Edit: and this comes from someone that has apps on the stores that is free with ads (mobi.timekeeper)
 
Last edited:
AlphaJohn said:
Adaway user here also run with Adblock plus in my browsers.(Including FF on my phone) Its their job to shove ads in my face.... its mine to simply ignore em or get some means of removing most of them.

The way some people behave in here you would swear that they sit and watch all the ads on TV as well, and not; take a leak or do something while the ads are on screen, they also never fast forward ads on recorded media either?

Edit: and this comes from someone that has apps on the stores that is free with ads (mobi.timekeeper)
Click to expand...

Yes.
But some people prefer to just pay and not have their personal data mined and adverts shown.
And if WhatsApp had been bought by an advertising company, then that is exactly what would have happened
 
JStrike said:
Yes.
But some people prefer to just pay and not have their personal data mined and adverts shown.
And if WhatsApp had been bought by an advertising company, then that is exactly what would have happened
Click to expand...

What makes you think Whatsapp is not going through your data now and selling it to advertisers?

Or do you think the endless extensions on android & nokia phones means that they make enough money from the limited iOS sales? At least Google is open about it and sell ad space, not your data.

Edit: For example: I have the app now for 4 years and never paid a cent. My expiry date keeps on being extended.
 
Last edited:
DanielM344 said:
Just value my privacy my Google-loving friend. But to each his own. If avoiding Google makes me paranoid (won't mention the other one as I find your comment tasteless), then so be it...
Click to expand...

You might find my comment tasteless but thats because I found your comment incredibly unusual. Only people I know who behave like that are tinfoil hat specialists and criminals. So I was trying to figure out which one you are.
 
A quick Google and I got this:

WhatsApp breached data privacy laws by storing non-user contact details

WhatsApp has been found guilty of breaching international privacy laws because it forces customers (bar those using iOS 6) to grant it access to their entire address book. It indiscriminately retains all that information, meaning millions of non-consenting, non-users have had their data given up over the years.

The announcement was made by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Dutch Data Protection Authority, which both maintain WhatsApp directly breached its privacy laws. However, the joint investigation took place in 2012, giving the company time to make some adjustments before the public ever found out -- it has encrypted messages (from September 2012), strengthened its authentication process and also plans on developing manual addition of contacts. There are, however, still "outstanding issues" that the authorities intend to follow-up on, despite the instant messaging provider claiming non-users' numbers are encrypted and that they don't store corresponding names and emails.

WhatsApp has been dogged with security flaws since its launch, with one hacker releasing a Windows tool to show how easy it is to change user statuses in early 2012. This latest find, with even non-users being drawn into a privacy data dispute, has somewhat irked the authorities since international law clearly states data should only be kept "for so long as it is required for the fulfilment of an identification purpose".

"This lack of choice contravenes privacy law," said Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority, in a statement. "Both users and non-users should have control over their personal data and users must be able to freely decide what contact details they wish to share with WhatsApp."

It flags up an issue Facebook, Google and others are currently having to deal with: user consent, or the lack thereof.

"This case puts the spotlight on a key issue within privacy law: can the use of a service be made conditional on access being given to personal data?" Stewart Room, a partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse specialising in privacy law, told Wired.co.uk. "On my reading of the law, the EU data protection regime does recognise the legitimacy of making service use conditional in this way, but the law will expect sufficient mechanisms to be put in place to draw the user's attention to the data access before the service commences. In other words, people need to know what they are signing up for in advance."

It's taken the Dutch and Canadian authorities a good few years, and plenty of warnings from the public over the app's security issues, to carry out its investigation and apply some pressure on the US-based company. So what other less high-profile apps are getting away with more?

"I suspect that these breaches are much more common than we think, with many businesses not paying due attention to their data collection practices when developing or deploying their services," Daniel Cooper, head of global privacy and data security at Covington and Burling, told Wired.co.uk. "Many companies simply collect data, despite having no clear business need for it, on the basis that it may be useful in the future [WhatsApp says it keeps the data on file to populate its own contact list]. This situation has not been helped by the relatively limited amount of regulatory enforcement that has occurred to date."

So we'll probably start seeing more cases such as these arise as attention is drawn to the issue.

With that in mind, Stewart says: "I would encourage all app developers to look at how they bring key privacy issues to the attention of users during signing-up… I expect that where there are problems these are more often the result of a lack of focus or clarity of thought, rather than a deliberate attempt to have people over. I do expect that many app developers are in a similar position to WhatsApp."
Click to expand...

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/29/whatsapp-privacy

Sorry to say but I would prefer Google know my data and not sell it off, unlike some no-name that you have no clue what they doing with it.

Golden rule, if you getting something for free you are the product, not the customer.
 
ghoti said:
You might find my comment tasteless but thats because I found your comment incredibly unusual. Only people I know who behave like that are tinfoil hat specialists and criminals. So I was trying to figure out which one you are.
Click to expand...

That is an incredibly short sited view.
You can desire privacy without a criminal motive
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X