Hey! Following the #GlobalSwitchDay initiative, can you share any scandal, security problems or situations in which the proprietary apps have failed to care for their users? I would like to gather information for each app so people I know can be more informed about what they're using. Mention things that you might even take for granted, some people are completely unaware.

The apps are: Whatsapp, Reddit, X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok.

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[–] gi1242 18 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

for WhatsApp the founders quit over privacy concerns, and made signal

https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/

there's also a nice (long) article by propublica from a few years ago

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-facebook-undermines-privacy-protections-for-its-2-billion-whatsapp-users

[–] vikingtons 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Iirc, Acton donated to signal, they didn't go on to make it as an alternative. Signal existed long before he left, and even longer ago as open whisper systems' TextSexure, which was a means of SMS / MMS encryption.

OWS was founded by moxie back in 2013