For those worried about what WhatsApp's new policy of sharing data would do to their privacy, it might be a good idea to be reminded as to what Facebook Messenger's policies are as they could be quite compromising of user privacy as well, a report finds. For those that have no idea regarding what Facebook Messenger does, here's a refresher.
Is WhatsApp safe?
According to the story by Express.co.uk, the free to download Messenger relies solely on targeting advertising for it to pay for itself. So, while the WhatsApp messages are still safely locked behind end-to-end encryption. Facebook actually openly admits that it scans Messenger texts in order to improve its services on Facebook, within Messenger, as well as Facebook's entire network.
It is important to note that when chatting with a friend or family friend about trying to lose weight, users should not be surprised when it comes to seeing protein adverts, diet pills, gyms, and etc. The advertisements that users spot isn't really by coincidence but by carefully thought out data based algorithmic promotions.
Is Messenger safe?
What makes things worse is that Facebook even downloads users' files that are sent between friends and family inside Messenger conversations to its very own servers to be analyzed. Website links that are sent within Messenger are also taken by Facebook in order to learn more about the users' interests and what they could persuade the user to buy.
Apple currently includes a new App Privacy report found on its App Store for all of the softwares installed. This lays bare exactly what the app developers will be allowed to track as well as what they plan to do with the given data.
On the Messenger listing, Apple states that this particular app allows third-party advertisers to be able to track the users' purchase history which includes what they have previously bought from other advertisements as well as their financial info, the physical store, precise location, name, email address, phone number, contacts, the photos and videos, search history, the browsing data, and more. If Facebook Messenger is found to run slower than usual, users shouldn't be surprised if they suddenly start showing advertisements for a new phone or something similar.
Read Also: Google Threatens to Disable Search Engine in Australia, Policy Makers Cry 'Blackmail'
Is WhatsApp messenger safe?
An article by Forbes that focuses on the highlights of Zak Dofferman regarding the extent of data collection done in messenger is described as "more alarming" when compared to WhatsApp's practices. See the data here.
Doffman writes that the whole WhatsApp debacle has been able to distract a lot of people from just how bad is Messenger's own invasion or user privacy. It was stated that there is no justification for this and that we all know that Facebook still makes its living from collecting user data. This is how users are able to pay for the "free" service. However, it is said that there still needs to be a limit.
Related Article: WhatsApp: 4 Things it Does to Stop Users from Switching to Signal and Telegram
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian Buenconsejo
