[lenze]

Hi all,

I know it's a long shot but hey, why not try?
I find that Whatsapp copies my entire contacts list. Names and mobile numbers I can understand, but it also copies email addresses, home addresses, etc. I find that a privacy problem, as it really doesn't need to have that information!

So is there any way to stop this? I found out that it's not possible as Whatsapp automatically connects to my addresss book to function, or else it just won't work.

However, would there be a solution in creating multiple address books on my phone? One for Whatsapp and another one that Whatsapp doesn't access? Has anyone tried this? Or does anyone know of another solution I haven't thought of yet?

It would be great if you could help me. For now, I'm stuck between not using Whatsapp or leaving the contacts list empty. Both not handy.

Thanks for reading this,
all the best, lenze

[raino]

Whatsapp by it's nature is designed to pull all of your contacts. You could try moving some contacts to your SIM card (I don't know if anything except names and phone numbers transfers,) and seeing if they still appear in the Whatsapp contacts list, but SIM card storage is finite.

In absence of this, if you have a second phone lying around, do a selective contacts import to it, and install Whatsapp on it. This could get tedious in the long run, because every time you have to add a new contact, you may end up inputting it twice--once to your non-Whatsapp phone, and once to this one.

[BB Adict]

Hi all,

I know it's a long shot but hey, why not try?
I find that Whatsapp copies my entire contacts list. Names and mobile numbers I can understand, but it also copies email addresses, home addresses, etc. I find that a privacy problem, as it really doesn't need to have that information!

So is there any way to stop this? I found out that it's not possible as Whatsapp automatically connects to my addresss book to function, or else it just won't work.

However, would there be a solution in creating multiple address books on my phone? One for Whatsapp and another one that Whatsapp doesn't access? Has anyone tried this? Or does anyone know of another solution I haven't thought of yet?

It would be great if you could help me. For now, I'm stuck between not using Whatsapp or leaving the contacts list empty. Both not handy.

Thanks for reading this,
all the best, lenze

Short answer, no!!

Posted via CB10

[lenze]

Whatsapp by it's nature is designed to pull all of your contacts. You could try moving some contacts to your SIM card (I don't know if anything except names and phone numbers transfers,) and seeing if they still appear in the Whatsapp contacts list, but SIM card storage is finite.

In absence of this, if you have a second phone lying around, do a selective contacts import to it, and install Whatsapp on it. This could get tedious in the long run, because every time you have to add a new contact, you may end up inputting it twice--once to your non-Whatsapp phone, and once to this one.

Thanks for your reply! I don't have a second phone, but I will try putting contacts on my SIM. Need to find out how to do that though, by searching the manuals, first. Then I can see if it works.

Come to think of it: could I try the same thing with a media card? I mean, get one of those and move contacts to it? Or does Whatsapp definitely pull contacts from there, too?

[Umaima_B_Dia]

Whatsapp and BlackBerry shenanigans D:

11 times. I have stopped looking in my Contacts app and Whatsapp Contacts section now.



 Q5SQR100-2/10.3.1.1154 

[hindsketchup238]

In order to stop it from doing that is to delete the app!!

Posted via CB10

[Umaima_B_Dia]

In order to stop it from doing that is to delete the app!!

Posted via CB10

Well, that is one way. Not quite popular, though.

 Q5SQR100-2/10.3.1.1154 

[lenze]

Whatsapp and BlackBerry shenanigans D:

11 times. I have stopped looking in my Contacts app and Whatsapp Contacts section now.



 Q5SQR100-2/10.3.1.1154 

I can see your frustration. Quite literally! ;-)

However, to stay on topic (hope you don't mind), my problem is not multiple entries. It's not even the fact that whatsapp copies contacts. It's the fact that it copies so much more info (addresses, land line numbers, etc.) than it could possibly need.

[Umaima_B_Dia]

I can see your frustration. Quite literally! ;-)

However, to stay on topic (hope you don't mind), my problem is not multiple entries. It's not even the fact that whatsapp copies contacts. It's the fact that it copies so much more info (addresses, land line numbers, etc.) than it could possibly need.

Yes, same issue here. However, I don't think there's an immediate solution currently.

I have never seen this happen on the Android app (not Android version running on BlackBerry 10).

 Q5SQR100-2/10.3.1.1154 

[RedxD]

Hi all,

I know it's a long shot but hey, why not try?
I find that Whatsapp copies my entire contacts list. Names and mobile numbers I can understand, but it also copies email addresses, home addresses, etc. I find that a privacy problem, as it really doesn't need to have that information!

So is there any way to stop this? I found out that it's not possible as Whatsapp automatically connects to my addresss book to function, or else it just won't work.

However, would there be a solution in creating multiple address books on my phone? One for Whatsapp and another one that Whatsapp doesn't access? Has anyone tried this? Or does anyone know of another solution I haven't thought of yet?

It would be great if you could help me. For now, I'm stuck between not using Whatsapp or leaving the contacts list empty. Both not handy.

Thanks for reading this,
all the best, lenze

Whatsapp doesn't copy anything but phone numbers, I think you need to take a look at http://www.whatsapp.com/legal

"We do not collect names, addresses or email addresses, just mobile phone numbers."

So yeah, they're not copying anyone's email addresses.

Posted via CB10

[Umaima_B_Dia]

Whatsapp doesn't copy anything but phone numbers, I think you need to take a look at http://www.whatsapp.com/legal

"We do not collect names, addresses or email addresses, just mobile phone numbers."

So yeah, they're not copying anyone's email addresses.

Posted via CB10

I thought OP meant duplicating. No?

(apologies if not)

[RedxD]

I can see your frustration. Quite literally! ;-)

However, to stay on topic (hope you don't mind), my problem is not multiple entries. It's not even the fact that whatsapp copies contacts. It's the fact that it copies so much more info (addresses, land line numbers, etc.) than it could possibly need.

I don't think so, he stated here that his problem is that whatsapp copies so much more info than they need, except that they actually don't.

Posted via CB10

[raino]

Thanks for your reply! I don't have a second phone, but I will try putting contacts on my SIM. Need to find out how to do that though, by searching the manuals, first. Then I can see if it works.

In your address book/Contacts app, open up a specific contact you want to move>overflow menu>Add to SIM.

I don't know if there's a faster way of doing this, with multiple contacts. And you can view your SIM card contacts by going back to the main list of contacts>swipe right>SIM.

Come to think of it: could I try the same thing with a media card? I mean, get one of those and move contacts to it?

I guess you could, but you would need to somehow extract them from the Contacts app, and then store them in a way that they can be recalled for viewing. I don't think that's possible--to view contacts stored anywhere except in the Contacts list and/or SIM card.

[whatsever]

Whatsapp ,Facebook are just ther take al your contacts, accounts from you Phone and more. It's free , and yes BBM is free but BlackBerry allready saying they wanted to keep if free with there stickers and maybe ads. How else you must pay all these servers. \\

O and did you know that everything send throw there server like photo's video's etc are thers to use or to sell .

[cbvinh]

I don't use Whatsapp, so perhaps it's already available, but is there a Whatsapp contacts editor accessible via web or app that will allow a user to remove/edit his/her own contacts list, i.e. to see what Whatsapp has stored? It seems this little bit of transparency would go a long way toward making people happy.

[lenze]

Whatsapp doesn't copy anything but phone numbers, I think you need to take a look at WhatsApp :: Legal

"We do not collect names, addresses or email addresses, just mobile phone numbers."

So yeah, they're not copying anyone's email addresses.

Posted via CB10

Thanks for that, I hadn't seen that, no.
But, at the risk of getting tied up in semantics: you quote they don't collect email addresses, then conclude they don't copy them.
And, in reply to umaimba.b.zia: I guess I did mean "duplicating". But what does that mean, then?

What I really mean is this, what I see happening in the Whatsapp app itself. Inside the app, it shows not only names and mobile numbers, but also all these other details for my contacts. Including but not limited to email addresses. So that's copying. Or duplicating.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, I'm no technical expert. But does all this mean that, say, email addresses are copied into the app on my phone but don't leave my phone? That when Whatsapp says it doesn't collect certain data, it means: we copy them into the app on your phone but they stay right there and will never reach our servers? Is that even possible (as I said, I'm no tech expert)? And can we be sure about that?

This wasn't exactly my original question, I know. But it certainly touches the privacy issue I'm addressing, and it interests me. And perhaps I've been drawing wrongful conclusions from what I saw in the app?

[miketko]

Yes. Delete whatsapp and send ur contacts invites to DL bbm

Posted via CB10 with my powerful Passport

[Umaima_B_Dia]

And, in reply to umaimba.b.zia: I guess I did mean "duplicating". But what does that mean, then?

Ignore what I said I misunderstood, sorry.

[lenze]

In your address book/Contacts app, open up a specific contact you want to move>overflow menu>Add to SIM.

I don't know if there's a faster way of doing this, with multiple contacts. And you can view your SIM card contacts by going back to the main list of contacts>swipe right>SIM.



I guess you could, but you would need to somehow extract them from the Contacts app, and then store them in a way that they can be recalled for viewing. I don't think that's possible--to view contacts stored anywhere except in the Contacts list and/or SIM card.

Thanks again! Your instructions worked just fine. It's easy, really.

But it doesn't get the result I want. I find that:
1) SIM indeed stores only name and phone number, not for example an email address.
2) Whatsapp ignores the data on my SIM. If a contact is only on the SIM and not in the contact list, whatsapp says there is no contact.
In fact, if SIM would store more than just phone numbers, it could work for my purpose. Though I'd then have to contend myself with a less sophisticated storage method for my main storage, leaving the sophisticated contacts list for whatsapp only. Not ideal. At all.

[lenze]

Ignore what I said I misunderstood, sorry.

You're quite alright. I fact I think you understood me correctly.

[nbaliga]

I use a secondary Lumia 1520 device for entertainment stuff like apps, games.
This device uses an old MSN account that I don't use for any email or communication.

So I'm able to freely install apps etc and don't care about permissions on this device.

For WhatsApp, you don't really need all contacts in your address book if you use groups to chat with classmates etc.
I add personal chat contacts to that device as needed. Mostly, I only chat with 10-15 people in reality, so adding them manually was not a big deal for me.

[raino]

Regarding information collection, here is a post from someone representing him as "Jan, whatsapp inc. ceo and co-founder": http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...3/#post6674329

This was pre-Facebook purchase, of course. Wonder what Jan's stance is now about the "bad guys out there."

[Umaima_B_Dia]

Regarding information collection, here is a post from someone representing him as "Jan, whatsapp inc. ceo and co-founder": http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...3/#post6674329

This was pre-Facebook purchase, of course. Wonder what Jan's stance is now about the "bad guys out there."

When I first read the message, I was skeptic but the fact that Dkonigsberg_wa didn't deny it...

Dkonigsberg_wa almost always shows up in threads mentioning whatsapp (like you with radio threads), so hopefully this will be 'clarified' soon. I think the answer is the BlackBerry Contacts app itself as far as duplication goes.

[RedxD]

Thanks for that, I hadn't seen that, no.
But, at the risk of getting tied up in semantics: you quote they don't collect email addresses, then conclude they don't copy them.
And, in reply to umaimba.b.zia: I guess I did mean "duplicating". But what does that mean, then?

What I really mean is this, what I see happening in the Whatsapp app itself. Inside the app, it shows not only names and mobile numbers, but also all these other details for my contacts. Including but not limited to email addresses. So that's copying. Or duplicating.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, I'm no technical expert. But does all this mean that, say, email addresses are copied into the app on my phone but don't leave my phone? That when Whatsapp says it doesn't collect certain data, it means: we copy them into the app on your phone but they stay right there and will never reach our servers? Is that even possible (as I said, I'm no tech expert)? And can we be sure about that?

This wasn't exactly my original question, I know. But it certainly touches the privacy issue I'm addressing, and it interests me. And perhaps I've been drawing wrongful conclusions from what I saw in the app?

They don't copy anything, they just show the info that's already on your phone, there's an api for it(I actually have been working with the contacts API lately), they do read the data from your phone but your phone number( is all they send to their servers.

Posted via CB10

[RedxD]

When I first read the message, I was skeptic but the fact that Dkonigsberg_wa didn't deny it...

Dkonigsberg_wa almost always shows up in threads mentioning whatsapp (like you with radio threads), so hopefully this will be 'clarified' soon. I think the answer is the BlackBerry Contacts app itself as far as duplication goes.

He's probably not gonna comment on this as whatever he says could be taken as Whatsapp's official statements.

Posted via CB10