This article points out that Facebook’s planned content moderation scheme will result in an encryption backdoor into WhatsApp: In Facebook’s vision, the actual end-to-end encryption client itself such as WhatsApp will include embedded content moderation and blacklist filtering algorithms. These algorithms will be continually updated from a central cloud service, but will run locally on the user’s device, scanning each cleartext message before it is sent and each encrypted message after it is decrypted. The company even noted that when it detects violations it will need to quietly stream a copy of the formerly encrypted content back to its central servers to analyze further, even if the user objects, acting as true wiretapping service...
‘Betrayal of trust'? WhatsApp to start sharing user data with Facebook, corporations — RT World News
The world’s most popular messenger, the Facebook-owned WhatsApp, will give its users’ personal information to its parent company and plans to make it easier for businesses to contact subscribers. WhatsApp claims the changes won’t endanger privacy.
Facebook's alleged use of APIs to crush competition is a warning to other data companies
Forget Instagram and WhatsApp. The real villains in the FTC lawsuit are Facebook's abuse of data and APIs.
Why Meta is retreating from encryption
In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg called privacy the future of social networking. Not anymore
Building Private Processing for AI tools on WhatsApp
We are inspired by the possibilities of AI to help people be more creative, productive, and stay closely connected on WhatsApp, so we set out to build a new technology that allows our users around …
EU charges Facebook with giving 'misleading' information over WhatsApp
Social network could face fine of up to 1% of global turnover in 2014 prompted by privacy policy change for WhatsApp that shared user data with Facebook
Opinion | Zuckerberg’s So-Called Shift Toward Privacy (Published 2019)
Facebook is happy to protect user data when doing so decreases the company’s civic responsibilities — but not when it threatens advertising revenue.
Chat Control & Going Dark: The war on encryption is on the rise. Through a shady collaboration between the US and the EU.
After Snowden’s whistleblowing in 2013, large parts of the internet became encrypted, enabling private and secure communication. Not everyone has welcomed this change. Most notably, the FBI and other U.S. government agencies have fought what is often called the “crypto wars”, the war on encryption. In recent years, they have been joined by the European Commission. Under the slogan “what about the children,” they try to introduce total mass surveillance of all EU citizens — first through the proposed Chat Control legislation, and later via the Going Dark and ProtectEU initiatives. The goal is to legally mandate spy tools on every European smartphone and computer. The forces behind these efforts have turned out to be American tech companies and intelligence agencies.
Facebook snooped on users' Snapchat traffic in secret project, documents reveal | TechCrunch
A secret program called "Project Ghostbusters" saw Facebook devise a way to intercept and decrypt the encrypted network traffic of Snapchat users to study their behavior.
WhatsApp class action alleges Meta, third parties accessed private messages without consent
A new class action lawsuit alleges WhatsApp messages are not private.
Facebook Data Privacy Scandal: A Cheat Sheet - TechRepublic
Read about the saga of Facebook's failures in ensuring privacy for user data, including how it relates to Cambridge Analytica, the GDPR, the Brexit campaign, and the 2016 US presidential election.
AI Wants Your Life: Tech Boss Meredith Whittaker Says No | The Mishal Husain Show
Stop Bill C-22!
🚨 Bill C-22 forces every Canadian internet provider, messaging app & cloud service to build surveillance backdoors and store a year of your data. Foreign state hackers exploited similar legislation in the US. Shut the backdoor: https://openmedia.org/StopC22 #BillC22
Facebook's surveillance is nothing compared to Comcast, AT&T and Verizon | Salome Viljoen
Comcast, AT&T and Verizon pose a greater surveillance risk than Facebook – but their surveillance is much harder to avoid
Facebook will shut down its spyware VPN app Onavo | TechCrunch
Facebook will end its unpaid market research programs and proactively take its Onavo VPN app off the Google Play store in the wake of backlash following
Private Chat Backups with Local-First Principles
Introducing encrypted chat backups and multi-device syncing that extends our end-to-end privacy principles to persistent cloud storage.
Apple revokes Facebook’s developer certificate over data-snooping app—Google could be next
Both bypassed the App Store to distribute their data-collection apps to users.
