Tag: WhatsApp

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Why do I dislike Facebook (Fb)? [Addendum – Jan 21st]

I was challenged with this question last Thursday when I told my family about the intended changes to the WhatsApp Terms and Conditions of Use. I didn’t reply to my IT-savvy son until this morning when I was first asked to agree to these new Ts&Cs. This is what I wrote …

“It starts with trust, and then you work away from that. It’s what a company does with information and whether you can then trust them to handle it properly. Google+ was a closed system that you opened up; Fb is an open system that even though it has Privacy Controls – which you need a degree to work out how to set them – essentially allows them to do anything with what appears on their platform.

You take a photo – you don’t retain copyright, you assign that right to them when you publish to the platform. You have to struggle to find a way to opt out of adverts (understandably – that’s how they make their money) – you are conned into thinking that in allowing them, you will get a better experience.

For whom? For you – no, they’re just an annoyance to me, but for others they just drive people to buy stuff they might not want/need. For them – yes, that’s how they drive income and more.

So it’s the more that’s more interesting and insidious because what they do with that information leads to targeting people with posts, hence my reference to Brexit and Trump. [I had said in my brief first reply – Cambridge Analytica, Brext and Trump.] The algorithms behind the scenes work the data and susceptible people get targeted with posts as well, not just adverts. I could go on, but as I said – it’s all about Trust, and Fb as a company is one that I just don’t trust. [Addendum: Fb would say that it’s not them that uses the data; but we now have plentiful evidence that Fb Service Users have found ways of manipulating the data they have access to as Fb Business Users.]

Getting data from WhatsApp was something they committed at take-over they wouldn’t do. Now they are starting to do just that. Next step targeted adverts on a platform which is advert free; then “posts from others you might be interested in” – not the encrypted ones, but ones from Public Figures. Then “oh! dear” we have to drop encryption because of new privacy laws in the US. [Aside: is it a coincidence that Google, Twitter and Fb appear to be more privacy focussed since the Republicans lost control of the Senate and they just might want to be on the right side of the argument that’s going to come in the US in the next four years ].

So I always logout of Fb to stop them tracking me; I suspect that WhatsApp will have a mechanism that prevents a user from being disconnected so Fb with these new Ts&Cs will be tracking as well as getting the other personal info from users. [However, see the addendum below which has caused me to change my views on that.]

Please feel free to comment either on the post, or in the Topic I’ve created to discuss the subject in the Privacy and the Internet Forum.

Addendum: After posting this article, a former colleague provided a link to a page on Facebook’s website. That article is included in the many posts to Flipboard I’ve added in the past three weeks. However, it’s worth looking at, particularly as it affects the advice I’ve given many times to Logout of your Fb account. It would appear that Fb’s reach is wider than I thought, and so I can only now recommend that you logout. Some salient passages from the article …

When does Facebook get data about people from other websites and apps?
Many websites and apps use Facebook services to make their content and ads more engaging and relevant. These services include:

Social plugins, such as our Like and Share buttons, which make other sites more social and help you share content on Facebook;

Facebook Login, which lets you use your Facebook account to log into another website or app;

Facebook Analytics, which helps websites and apps better understand how people use their services; and

Facebook ads and measurement tools, which enable websites and apps to show ads from Facebook advertisers, to run their own ads on Facebook or elsewhere, and to understand the effectiveness of their ads.

When you visit a site or app that uses our services, we receive information even if you’re logged out or don’t have a Facebook account. This is because other apps and sites don’t know who is using Facebook.

I’ve added the emboldening to the last paragraph. So it means that if you do any of the above things on a site that uses Fb Services (ie pays to advertise on the Fb platform) personal information will be transferred to Fb.

Finally, if you’re just a bit more curious about Facebook’s Data Policy, take a read of this and be just a little gobsmacked at what’s going on behind the scenes and just consider it might be worthwhile reviewing your security settings. In particular look at the last section which explains how your information will be shared and especially look at the last part where they describe what they do with third-party partners (eg Cambridge Analytica ???).

Facebook have attempted to respond to the uproar about privacy with the announcement, and release of a Clear History Tool – and you should take a look at this page which explains What off-Facebook Activity means and describes how Fb’s third-party partners and business service providers may be interacting with Fb, and you.

Now you might realise why I dislike Facebook – they’ve lost my trust, and it’s just too much effort to make sure I’ve closed all the doors to protecting the personal information they hold on me.

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Video calling – Covid-19 and beyond [Updated]

The current crisis is forcing us all to consider how we can maintain face-to-face social contact at a time when that simply is not desirable, or even permissible. To this end we might look to video-calling  as a possible solution. Let’s look at the options – this list will undoubtedly be updated, so please check back and also add your thoughts and experiences in the Comments area below.
WhatsApp is the simplest means of keeping in contact face-to-face and works well for a one-to-one call; you can also use it for audio calls and of course chat – but you can use it for calling up to four others. Here’s how you do it. It’s available for iPhone (iOS) and Android phones and you can use it from a webapp that runs on Windows or MacOS. It’s encrypted which means that your conversations should be secure, but it is owned by Facebook so one can never tell what might happen to it, or your data, in the future. You can also use Facebook Messenger to connect to up to 50 people – but I wouldn’t go there!
If you are a Mac/iPhone/iPad user wanting to call someone who also has Apple equipment you should really just use Facetime and look no further. Here’s how to use it from mobile devices, and here from your laptop or desktop. If you want to do a Group video-call then you can – up to 32 people can be on the same call! Here’s a User Guide which is applicable if you’re using the latest versions of Apple’s MacOS – Catalina (or Mojave), and here’s one for the mobile users. You cannot use Facetime however to chat with someone who doesn’t have Apple equipment.

So we turn to Google Hangouts which has the benefit of working cross-platform (that is Apple, Windows, Linux and Android users can all use it) and can also support Group video-calling as well of up to 25 people. This is the application that on the surface of things is well suited to most group video-chat situations, and is the one I’ll be focussing on using most over the next few weeks. It has the real advantage that whilst there are dedicated apps for mobile devices, it just requires a browser and a web-address on desktop/laptops. Here’s how to get started with Google Hangouts.
There’s a Microsoft offering as well – perhaps the oldest and best known piece of video-calling software, so much so it’s been adopted as the generic term for video-calling – Skype. It’s the most obvious competitor to Hangouts as again it’s cross-platform and indeed it’s hugely scaleable as you can have up to 50 devices on a single call (how do you manage that?!) but I’m afraid I find the way of calling, the potential for charging (why and when), the connection with your phone number and account, and general way to go about using Skype just a little bit too complicated for me. One day, maybe I’ll find the time to research it more, but for the moment …
Finally, in this first pass of applications you can use for video-calls, there’s Zoom. We’ve used it and set it up for a call from a Mac to an iPad. It is cross-platform – so that’s good. It has a good reputation for person-to-person calls where it’s free but a little fiddly to setup, but I believe it won’t scale well for Group chat – as it’s principal focus is Business. I believe you’ll have to pay for that facility, so for the moment, I’m discounting it.
[Update]
Since writing this I’ve been pleased to here that several U3A members have been using Zoom – I’ll be trying it out myself shortly. However there are a few things you should take notice of which are described in this article and this one. I’d suggest you take the time to read both of them and don’t think they’re not relevant because they’re from a Mac user website.
There are a couple of other articles I’ve come across just recently on setting up Zoom, and using Zoom for online meetings, and again I’d suggest that you might read them. One hint/tip that seems quite sensible – get someone else to setup the meeting/server – don’t host it yourself. Selfish but safe!
Please add comments on your use of Zoom, or any other video-calling software in the Comments below.