Miscellaneous Tech News
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Google tries to allay Fitbit-deal privacy fears
Google has completed its acquisition of Fitbit and tried to reassure users it will protect their privacy.
The search giant bought the health-tracking company for $2.1bn (£1.5bn) in November 2019 but faced questions from regulators. Following a four-month European Commission investigation, it agreed not to use health and location data from Fitbit devices for advertising. The deal was then approved by authorities in December. In a blog, Google said the acquisition "has always been about devices, not data". "We've been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users' privacy," it added, promising the commitments given to the commission, which it must keep for 10 years, would be implemented globally. -
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@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Google tries to allay Fitbit-deal privacy fears
Google has completed its acquisition of Fitbit and tried to reassure users it will protect their privacy.
The search giant bought the health-tracking company for $2.1bn (£1.5bn) in November 2019 but faced questions from regulators. Following a four-month European Commission investigation, it agreed not to use health and location data from Fitbit devices for advertising. The deal was then approved by authorities in December. In a blog, Google said the acquisition "has always been about devices, not data". "We've been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users' privacy," it added, promising the commitments given to the commission, which it must keep for 10 years, would be implemented globally.Bahahaha. Google + protect privacy = Annihilation. This is like matter and antimatter in the same space.
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WhatsApp extends 'confusing' update deadline
WhatsApp has extended the deadline by which its two billion users must either accept its updated terms and conditions or stop using the service.
The original cut-off date was 8 February, but users now have until 15 May to take action. The firm was criticised for sending the notification, which seemed to suggest changes to the data it would share with its parent company Facebook. It said there had been "confusion" about its message. Since the announcement and notifications went out across its platform, millions of people around the world have downloaded alternative encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. In a blogpost, WhatsApp said personal messages had always been encrypted and would remain private. It added that its practice of sharing some user data with Facebook was not new, and was not going to be expanded. "The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," it said. -
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
WhatsApp extends 'confusing' update deadline
WhatsApp has extended the deadline by which its two billion users must either accept its updated terms and conditions or stop using the service.
The original cut-off date was 8 February, but users now have until 15 May to take action. The firm was criticised for sending the notification, which seemed to suggest changes to the data it would share with its parent company Facebook. It said there had been "confusion" about its message. Since the announcement and notifications went out across its platform, millions of people around the world have downloaded alternative encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. In a blogpost, WhatsApp said personal messages had always been encrypted and would remain private. It added that its practice of sharing some user data with Facebook was not new, and was not going to be expanded. "The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," it said.Who now? Sorry, don't know what this "WhatsApp" is any longer. I have some vague memory of that being an app, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore.
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@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
WhatsApp extends 'confusing' update deadline
WhatsApp has extended the deadline by which its two billion users must either accept its updated terms and conditions or stop using the service.
The original cut-off date was 8 February, but users now have until 15 May to take action. The firm was criticised for sending the notification, which seemed to suggest changes to the data it would share with its parent company Facebook. It said there had been "confusion" about its message. Since the announcement and notifications went out across its platform, millions of people around the world have downloaded alternative encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. In a blogpost, WhatsApp said personal messages had always been encrypted and would remain private. It added that its practice of sharing some user data with Facebook was not new, and was not going to be expanded. "The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," it said.Who now? Sorry, don't know what this "WhatsApp" is any longer. I have some vague memory of that being an app, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore.
Is there a consensus on which app is going to succeed it?
I use WhatsApp to talk to customers in Mexico and Brazil, but they haven't seemed to make a move yet. I've tried both Signal and Telegram with friends and we liked Signal better, but I think their servers were overwhelmed and it wasn't working for us at all last week.
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@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
WhatsApp extends 'confusing' update deadline
WhatsApp has extended the deadline by which its two billion users must either accept its updated terms and conditions or stop using the service.
The original cut-off date was 8 February, but users now have until 15 May to take action. The firm was criticised for sending the notification, which seemed to suggest changes to the data it would share with its parent company Facebook. It said there had been "confusion" about its message. Since the announcement and notifications went out across its platform, millions of people around the world have downloaded alternative encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. In a blogpost, WhatsApp said personal messages had always been encrypted and would remain private. It added that its practice of sharing some user data with Facebook was not new, and was not going to be expanded. "The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," it said.Who now? Sorry, don't know what this "WhatsApp" is any longer. I have some vague memory of that being an app, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore.
This would be like someone in europe saying, what's that Twitter thing - I don't think it's used any longer.
As I understand it - until these recent announcements, it's the number one chat program in the world, used almost completely outside the USA.
It was so heavily used in Brazil that the gov't there shut it down because they didn't allow the gov't to tap it.
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@bnrstnr said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@scottalanmiller said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
WhatsApp extends 'confusing' update deadline
WhatsApp has extended the deadline by which its two billion users must either accept its updated terms and conditions or stop using the service.
The original cut-off date was 8 February, but users now have until 15 May to take action. The firm was criticised for sending the notification, which seemed to suggest changes to the data it would share with its parent company Facebook. It said there had been "confusion" about its message. Since the announcement and notifications went out across its platform, millions of people around the world have downloaded alternative encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram. In a blogpost, WhatsApp said personal messages had always been encrypted and would remain private. It added that its practice of sharing some user data with Facebook was not new, and was not going to be expanded. "The update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data," it said.Who now? Sorry, don't know what this "WhatsApp" is any longer. I have some vague memory of that being an app, but I don't think anyone uses that anymore.
Is there a consensus on which app is going to succeed it?
I use WhatsApp to talk to customers in Mexico and Brazil, but they haven't seemed to make a move yet. I've tried both Signal and Telegram with friends and we liked Signal better, but I think their servers were overwhelmed and it wasn't working for us at all last week.
Telegram in it's native form isn't any more secure, the vendor gets tons of meta data and they can read your messages (as I understand it). You have to enable encrypted chats to keep them out. And I don't know if they ever got group chat to work with encryption.
I think I used Signal for about 5 mins once, but since no one else did (at the time) I bailed on it quickly. Signal has a huge disconnect for me personally since they REQUIRE a phone number, heck, not not sure it can even run on a computer(device that has no teleco connection) because it requires a phone number, though they might have changed that.
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@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Signal has a huge disconnect for me personally since they REQUIRE a phone number, heck, not not sure it can even run on a computer(device that has no teleco connection) because it requires a phone number, though they might have changed that.
Looks like they don't require a phone number anymore. I believe I used a pin to set it up on my phone (even though I obviously have a phone number there)
I've been using the Windows app quite a bit also.
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@bnrstnr said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Signal has a huge disconnect for me personally since they REQUIRE a phone number, heck, not not sure it can even run on a computer(device that has no teleco connection) because it requires a phone number, though they might have changed that.
Looks like they don't require a phone number anymore. I believe I used a pin to set it up on my phone (even though I obviously have a phone number there)
I've been using the Windows app quite a bit also.
That's great news. Weird - I read another article this weekend, and they too mentioned the need for a phone number.
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@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
It was so heavily used in Brazil that the gov't there shut it down because they didn't allow the gov't to tap it.
I've been to Brazil a few times and every single person I encountered while there used WhatsApp, so I'm not sure where you're getting your info. I was just talking to somebody there last week on WhatsApp.
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@bnrstnr said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
It was so heavily used in Brazil that the gov't there shut it down because they didn't allow the gov't to tap it.
I've been to Brazil a few times and every single person I encountered while there used WhatsApp, so I'm not sure where you're getting your info. I was just talking to somebody there last week on WhatsApp.
oh - I didn't complete the thought - The gov't absolutely shut it down, It was supposed to be for something like a week or more, but the public outcry after just a day or two put so much political pressure that the courts there forced the gov't to open WhatsApp back up. As far as new reports go since then, the Brazil gov't hasn't pushed again.
Damn, time has flown by, I didn't realize this was nearly 5 years ago already.
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@bnrstnr said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
It was so heavily used in Brazil that the gov't there shut it down because they didn't allow the gov't to tap it.
I've been to Brazil a few times and every single person I encountered while there used WhatsApp, so I'm not sure where you're getting your info. I was just talking to somebody there last week on WhatsApp.
Your comment also makes it even funnier that Scott thought it was dead.
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@bnrstnr - do you know why the public moved to WhatsApp so heavily? Was SMS so expensive and mobile data by comparison so cheap that the financial costs pushed people to another platform?
Or did all mobile operators install Whatsapp by default, and make it the default texting app?
I don't foresee the US moving away from SMS because of "tyranny of the default"
Most people won't move away from the default until they run into an issue that really drives them to something else, and then they will only move to what appears to be the simplest thing.
Just look at IE, it reigned supreme for ages, even though it was crap! Only real reason it was replaced was that people couldn't do work in IE any more because it was lagging so far behind.
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@bnrstnr said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Signal has a huge disconnect for me personally since they REQUIRE a phone number, heck, not not sure it can even run on a computer(device that has no teleco connection) because it requires a phone number, though they might have changed that.
Looks like they don't require a phone number anymore. I believe I used a pin to set it up on my phone (even though I obviously have a phone number there)
I've been using the Windows app quite a bit also.
Did you read the article?
The disappointing news here, at least in our opinion, is that Signal isn’t yet announcing a way to use its product without handing over a phone number at all.
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@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@bnrstnr - do you know why the public moved to WhatsApp so heavily? Was SMS so expensive and mobile data by comparison so cheap that the financial costs pushed people to another platform?
Or did all mobile operators install Whatsapp by default, and make it the default texting app?
I don't foresee the US moving away from SMS because of "tyranny of the default"
Most people won't move away from the default until they run into an issue that really drives them to something else, and then they will only move to what appears to be the simplest thing.
Just look at IE, it reigned supreme for ages, even though it was crap! Only real reason it was replaced was that people couldn't do work in IE any more because it was lagging so far behind.
I think Scott has talked about how expensive SMS is and how it's not an option in the 3rd world. I really don't know. I've never even really thought about it. If you can afford internet to use WhatsApp, surely you can afford SMS? SMS is god awful though, unusable in my opinion, so maybe that contributes?
I'm an iPhoner and I really don't have any experience with Android based phones, but I'm not aware of any manufacturers that push WhatsApp or use it as the default. Most of the people I talk to on a daily basis use iPhones, so iMessage is the default and it works awesome for us. The few people that I talk to that use Android phones we struggle to communicate efficiently. I've convinced a few to switch to WhatsApp, some try to use Messenger.
Signal was better for one of my Android friends because he was able to use it as his default messaging app. That was the sole reason we preferred it over Telegram.
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@Dashrender said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Did you read the article?
No, I skimmed it and thought I saw an answer
Sucks that you need a phone number to register it.I did read another article that says it's possible to use a home phone to register it... so maybe that's still a viable solution?
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@bnrstnr said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
I did read another article that says it's possible to use a home phone to register it... so maybe that's still a viable solution?
It's not when the whole goal is privacy! The fact that they ever used phone numbers just makes you wonder what the makers were thinking when they claimed privacy first - yet you have to have this absolutely tied to you thing (Well, perhaps they were Americans and we can still get burners without showing ID, etc - but much of the rest of the world can not), but really, what good is a burner in this case - it's still going to be attached to YOU. You can't give up the number tomorrow to someone else and still have access to your Signal account.
