![]() ![]() However, the company did implement a few changes. Digital misinformation is a difficult problem to deal with, but many viewed WhatsApp’s response to these events as apathetic. They were able to do this as your phone number is your username on WhatsApp, so they purchased lists of phone numbers to target.īoth issues were ongoing through 2018, a year that was infamously terrible for Meta. As this kind of misinformation was so easy to spread, business people in Brazil set up companies that created misinformation campaigns against candidates enabled by the fact that WhatsApp is used for both business and personal communication. In Brazil, WhatsApp was the primary source of fake news throughout the 2018 elections. These messages were widely shared across people’s networks and resulted in the lynching of those accused of these fake crimes. Messages containing details of fabricated child abductions were forwarded and spread across the platform, customized with local information. WhatsApp was implicated in the widespread violence that occurred in India during 20. Two of the most notable cases have been in India and Brazil. In the years since, Meta has made changes to facilitate this data sharing. Your WhatsApp messages could be at risk because of this.ĭespite assuring users that their data wouldn’t be publicly available on Facebook, the implication was that Meta would instead store it in Facebook’s inaccessible and hidden profile of you. Although it didn’t reveal the full extent of this data transfer, it included your phone number and your usage data, like when you last used the service. In 2016, WhatsApp updated its Privacy Policy to allow sharing of data from WhatsApp to Facebook at the time. It didn’t take long for Meta to go back on this agreement. So in 2014, when Meta decided that it wanted to add WhatsApp to the “Meta Family,” the European Union (EU) only approved the deal after Meta assured it that the two companies, and their data, would be kept separate. Regulators attempt to minimize anti-competitive behavior by evaluating any takeover attempts. One of those criticisms is of the company’s effective market monopoly and anti-competitive actions. Meta (formerly Facebook) has been the subject of much criticism in recent years. However, remember that you won't be able to access your backups if you forget the password-WhatsApp can't restore it for you. You'll need to create a password to protect your backups. Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup and select Turn On to secure your WhatsApp backups. However, this setting is disabled by default. Thankfully, WhatsApp updated its service to include end-to-end encrypted chat backups. As the unencrypted backup is stored on one of two US-based cloud storage providers, all it would take is a warrant, and the government could have unfettered access to your messages. One of the supposed benefits of encryption is, for better or worse, being able to prevent government and law enforcement from accessing your data. There are other means that attackers could use to gain access to your cloud storage accounts, too. Although no large-scale hacks have affected iCloud or Google Drive to date, that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. As this file contains decrypted versions of all your messages, it is theoretically vulnerable and undermines WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption.Īs you have no choice in a backup location, you are at the mercy of the cloud providers to keep your data secure. The backup file stored on iCloud or Google Drive is not necessarily encrypted. ![]() However, they actually use that number to bombard you with spam or correlate with other leaked or hacked data on the internet. Some of these websites masquerade as WhatsApp Web, asking for you to enter your phone number to connect to the service. Others tried a different approach, creating phishing websites to trick you into handing over personal information. In some cases, hackers were able to install WhatsApp spyware due to a vulnerability. If you are unfortunate enough to have downloaded one of these, the installation can distribute malware or otherwise compromise your computer. There have been instances of attackers passing off malicious software as WhatsApp desktop applications. That isn’t true of the wider internet.Ĭriminals, hackers, and scammers have all taken advantage of this. When you search for WhatsApp on those stores, it’s generally clear which app is the official one. The app stores on phones-the App Store on iOS and Google Play Store on Android-are more carefully regulated than the internet at large. For years, WhatsApp has allowed you to open a website, or download a desktop app, scan a code with the app on your phone, and use WhatsApp on your computer. WhatsApp’s enormous user base makes it an obvious target for cybercriminals, many of who focus on WhatsApp Web.
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