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Original poster

Has anyone else deleted their WhatsApp account?

42 replies

SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 10:35

I'm considering this over some concerns over how they share data...

I'm just not sure I should take the plunge yet, but I don't know why I'm hesitating. The few good friends and family I'm in touch with regularly speak to me on the phone or in person. I'm not on there that much, so maybe I should go for it, or maybe I need a digital slap round the face from mumsnetters and talked out of it!

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Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 10:36

I also hate that you can't log out of it.

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SallyWD · 01/03/2022 10:37

I haven't deleted it yet but I have started using Signal and am encouraging family and friends to use it too. It does everything that WhatsApp does but doesn't have the same data concerns.

MrsDThomas · 01/03/2022 10:40

No. I use it with work as a group chat

Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 10:43

I've heard that about Signal actually and might ask dh to use it, as he's the only person I find WhatsApp useful.

I work in a school and we wouldn't use WhatsApp for work related chat.

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bobthebuilderofstars · 01/03/2022 10:45

Yeah - lost a load of pointless chat. Was great !

Back on it now but with contacts and notifications turned off. Would recommend for cutting back on distractions.

Using Signal and telegram instead.

Branster · 01/03/2022 10:46

What are the data sharing concerns with WhatsApp please?

Is Signal a very similar easy to use alternative?

CommonPrimrose · 01/03/2022 10:47

WhatsApp I use. I thought it was okay.

Mollysocks · 01/03/2022 10:48

I’m considering it. It’s hard when everyone you know is on it. Signal is great with no privacy/data concerns but I only know 2 others that have it.

Iamnotamermaid · 01/03/2022 10:51

Signal is an open source and independent app which encrypts not just the message but also the metadata, which means the sender and receiver details are also encrypted.

WhatsApp which just encrypts the message and is owned by Facebook who don't really do privacy.

TheLeadbetterLife · 01/03/2022 10:52

I use Signal instead, although I've been forced to use WhatsApp for work. People are so blasé about their data, it's astonishing really.

Justkeeppedaling · 01/03/2022 10:54

I'm considering this over some concerns over how they share data...

Why just pick on WhatsApp? Hmm

If you use a mobile phone or a pc you are scattering personal data everywhere you go, with everything you do.

Branster · 01/03/2022 10:56

Thank you.

So this means the user data is not encrypted or protected in any way.

But what data would that be, apart from the mobile phone number (and Facebook connected data if a Facebook account is associated with that user)?
Intercept actual additional mobile data from the phone itself, like location (would other data on that device be exposed?, for ex a separate email app).?

I don't want to be paranoid but I don't want to be completely ignorant either. Lack of knowledge on this subI possess in great quantities!

Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 10:58

WhatsApp used to be quite safe until they sold to Facebook. They then employed the creator of WhatsApp but he then left after WhatsApp changed how they handle and share data

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xraydelta · 01/03/2022 10:58

If WhatsApp want to share my data on my boring life, they can knock themselves out.

I am not going to switch to telegram when 99.9% of my friends are on WhatsApp.

Yes, I'm lazy. But also, I am not chatting about anything that's against the law, private, intimate, offensive, financial or sensitive so I'm not particularly bothered.

And I don't honestly think they are sharing any of that anyway...

As far as I understand it's my phone number shared with Facebook - which I also use- so what? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 10:59

WhatsApp is particularly dodgy. It isn't the same as just having a PC or smart phone.

I don't use Facebook or IG either.

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Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 11:01

I am not chatting about anything that's against the law, private, intimate, offensive, financial or sensitive

Nor am I, but I still don't want my data being shared. It is not just about other people knowing what you've said. It is then how they use meta data to target you. So it will have an affect on you even if you aren't arsed. But if you don't care, you don't care. I do, but everyone's different

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toastfiend · 01/03/2022 11:03

I still use it. I'm not particularly bothered about data privacy in the way some are, though. I'm extremely boring, I don't know anything secret and my WhatsApp is 99% inane chit chat and dog photos.

I'm also unbothered by targeted advertising. Mostly I find it quite useful. It's a free service, it's logical that it's making money somehow and I'm also on Facebook so they have loads of info about me anyway. I'm not loyal to it, if everyone I know switches to another platform then I guess I will too in order to stay in touch with them, but right now WhatsApp works for me.

xraydelta · 01/03/2022 11:06

@SoberSerena

I am not chatting about anything that's against the law, private, intimate, offensive, financial or sensitive

Nor am I, but I still don't want my data being shared. It is not just about other people knowing what you've said. It is then how they use meta data to target you. So it will have an affect on you even if you aren't arsed. But if you don't care, you don't care. I do, but everyone's different

Are you this protective of your phone number in day to day life? Do you refuse to give it when making a restaurant reservation, when booking your pet in for a groom, when dropping off dry cleaning?

If all it is is a phone number linked to your name, and there seems no evidence it's anything else, then those two pieces of info are probably linked together all over the place already, outside your control. That's why I really don't think it's a massive issue.

Branster · 01/03/2022 11:09

I think it is a given that pretty much everything sent can be intercepted or stored (even if content is deleted by the user) at some point by the owner of most platforms or a legitimate or infiltrated third party.

As regards the bulk of data stored separately or used through different platforms on the same device or a connected device, there would be tons of it. Of zero national interest but nonetheless private (I consider photos of my children to be private, as an example). I sort of assume it's vulnerable and somehow available if it is wanted.
Which is an annoying concept and I haven't got a clue how to change things.
I don't have social media profiles but there might be some created using my details. No idea!

Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 11:09

Here is an article on it which I think is reasonably reliable;

www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2021/03/06/stop-using-whatsapp-after-facebook-apple-imessage-signal-and-telegram-privacy-backlash/?sh=e15dd6933e8e

The other thing I've noticed is that the only person I know in my age group who doesn't have WhatsApp, works in cyber security.

I don't think it's the root of all evil and that by using it you're doing anything dangerous. I'm jusy trying to weigh up whether it is a useful enough app for me to be happy using it, knowing my data is being shared. Even though I'm not discussing anything top secret on there, it does bother me to know that someone who buys my data can find out a lot about me without me even knowing who they are. I'm sure a really determined hacker could find out lots about me anyway, but as a pp says, I don't know why they would want to as I'm quite boring. But when the data is just handed to them for some money, that is different as they will take that information

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Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 11:11

@xraydelta, not at all! I'm happy to give restaurants etc my mobile number, but I wouldn't for example, hand over my phone phone the waiter and let him look through it and copy everything he finds, to use your analogy.

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Original poster
SoberSerena · 01/03/2022 11:12

To the waiter*

Why does my autocorrect do that? So annoying

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xraydelta · 01/03/2022 11:14

@SoberSerena I was actually going to post that article too, to show that is it a non issue and nothing particular to worry about.

Justkeeppedaling · 01/03/2022 11:14

WhatsApp is particularly dodgy. It isn't the same as just having a PC or smart phone.

I don't use Facebook or IG either.

Do you shop on Amazon?

In what way is WA "particularly dodgy"?

xraydelta · 01/03/2022 11:15

[quote SoberSerena]@xraydelta, not at all! I'm happy to give restaurants etc my mobile number, but I wouldn't for example, hand over my phone phone the waiter and let him look through it and copy everything he finds, to use your analogy.[/quote]
But that's not what they are doing, as backed up by the article you've just posted.