4w ago

Help me find information about scandals, security problems, and failure to respect users involving these proprietary social media apps

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.

18 comments

I'll start with one: Cambridge Analytica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal

Facebook - Zuckerberg and his role in enabling ethnic cleansing in Myanmar
https://systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-how-facebook-contributed-to-genocide-in-myanmar-and-why-it-will-not-be-held-accountable/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/business/facebook-myanmar-zuckerberg.html

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
- 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

We can argue abozt the usefullness of Signal Ort the usability of Matrix. But please remove Signal from the chart as it suggests it is federated.
- Hi, I didn't created the chart, and you're right, Signal is not federated. But I think the big aspect several people have missed about this initiative is not which FOSS option for messaging is the best (which I understand is a big matter of concern for a lot of people already aware of the problems of proprietary apps), but making people completely unaware that there are options know that they can use something that respects their privacy and treats them as humans, not just "users"/"consumers", which is from my point of view, one of the main strengths of FOSS and Fedi apps.
  
  I get your point, but having Signal in a "Get Federated" list is very misleading at best.
  
  Wow, you're demanding us to do your bidding, and you're too lazy to even update the post
  You realize low effort posts is ban worthy, right?
  There's the door. Come back when you're willing to do a small amount of leg work
- I wish they'd quit again and make something foss

Idk if I’m dumb but I’ve never figured out how PeerTube works. I try to join and I wind up on some instance that has 5 weird videos that I have no interest in. Feels very unapproachable despite me already having more exposure to the Fediverse then your average person.
- Check this list out with PeerTube servers to choose from: https://lemmy.wtf/post/15816115
  There’s also a post in the same community, with a list of content creators on PeerTube.

Signal: 0-click deanonymisation: https://gist.github.com/hackermondev/45a3cdfa52246f1d1201c1e8cdef6117
I now read that you didn’t note signal but you have it in the image and it’s a centralized app.
- It's an interesting attack, but I'd hardly call getting the location within a ±200 mile radius deanonymisation, especially if it's so easily avoided by using a vpn.
  
  It’s a 0click so you have to have vpn running the entire time on any device that you install signal on

A "please" is warranted

NotYourArmy

18 comments