Facebook is changing the way that WhatsApp works
When Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014, there was a promise that the privacy of the popular messaging application’s millions of users’ wouldn’t be affected. That’s all changed with its new Terms of Service. The move is part of WhatsApp’s plan to monetize, and involves sharing phone numbers and analytical data with its parent company, Facebook. They’re also planning on allowing businesses to directly contact users through the app. This move is seen as threatening the digital privacy that WhatsApp has historically championed through introducing services like end-to-end encryption.
From the experts: Lorrie Faith Cranor
Wired recently interviewed the director of Carnegie Mellon’s Cylab’s Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory, Lorrie Faith Cranor, about digital privacy. Today, the meaning of privacy, especially in relation to the internet and technology, has changed. It is no longer feasible to remain unseen and untracked as we navigate our lives in a digital age. For Cranor, digital privacy is not about staying invisible, it’s about taking control of the information about you that inevitably exists.
Basic password security is important, for everyone
This lesson was learned the hard way by an employee at Dropbox and, unfortunately, by the 68 million users whose passwords were leaked because of their negligence. The employee used a duplicate password for their credentials at Dropbox, and for their personal account at LinkedIn, which experienced a massive hack in 2012. The incident is a timely reminder of the importance of using different passwords for different services, and the negative repercussions that can occur when someone decides to take the easy route.
Worst offenders: health and fitness applications
According to a new study released by the Future of Privacy Forum, health and fitness applications are the worst offenders when it comes to not informing users about what information is being collected and how it’s being used. Despite the obvious and important implications about the data being collected, like heart-rate and sleep statistics, many of the applications, especially those that charge for their services, are not providing users with sufficient information about who this information is being shared with and why.
The last digest is an interesting one – I think not a lot of people feel comfortable sharing data about their BMI or weight.
I remember I had a PE teacher who decided to collect data of all classmates’ weight, make it into graph and show it in front of whole class. Thinking about that, that was a pretty serious privacy evasion…..and we had no choice to opt out since it was part of the classroom activity…
I am guessing the fitness app companies- are doing similar things as my PE teacher- but in a much bigger scale and maybe even collecting data other than BMI or weight without informing users.
Hey Rie,
You got it. Worst case scenario is someone being scrutinized by an insurance company because of an unknown and undiagnosed medical ailment that was detected through these health and fitness applications. Imagine: applying for health insurance, and a provider tells you that you’re going to have to pay a higher premium, or just flat out rejecting your application, because some data that they purchased suggests that you’re a risky investment?
Banks are already searching for people online before making lending decisions about loan candidates. They’re collecting personal information through social media accounts and building profiles that assess risk based on musical taste and other highly subjective categories. These outcomes are frighteningly realistic!
Bryan