this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2023
161 points (97.1% liked)

Privacy

32165 readers
980 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Two questions.

My family insist on using Whatsapp for the family chats. I have to keep a copy on a device just so I can communicate with them. I do so under protest, as I was always told it isn't secure. My brother has just said

"oh Whatsapp is encrypted, it's perfectly secure".

First, is it actually as encrypted and safe as my brother claims? That would solve everything.

Second, if it isn't, where can I get some proof that we should switch to Telegram or whatever? Proof which doesn't make me look like a raving loony?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The contents of the chat messages are e2e encrypted, so meta can't see what you are sending.

But they can see all of the Meta data, ie how often you chat with someone, how often you send pictures/videos/voice messages, etc.

That is more than enough to know everything about you and your friends.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The contents of the chat messages are e2e encrypted, so meta can’t see what you are sending.

Even if we assume correct e2ee is used (which we have no way of knowing), Meta can still see what you are sending and receiving, because they control the endpoints. It's their app, after all.

[–] Rose 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They use the Signal protocol for e2ee.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Or so they claim. We can't really verify their implementation though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Even if they do, you can't know whether they can access the encryption keys. It's all just layers of "but this, but that" and at the very bottom a layer of "trust me, bro".