[james pisano]

Hi- I've searched the forum for an answer to my question unsuccessfully, so here it is:

How secure is Whatsapp? I mean, does anyone have concerns about where their contacts are stored? What about any pictures you upload, and your location?

I am primarily a BB customer due to the security of my data and the OS. I use facebook, and keep my account on the highest privacy setting and update it when necessary, but I'm concerned about my data and Whatsapp. Comments? Thanks.

Via Z10 & CB10

[the_igg]

Whatsapp is not secure. They know your phone number, your friends' phone numbers everything!!! They know where you live... They are probably watching you now.. ****, they are on to me.... I have to go... Oh dammmnk;l,fsd;f..fdfas help nfkdafjfm

[pkcable]

I don't like how they identify you by your phone number and all your Whatsapp contacts can see it!

[anon62607]

as it stands, it is not very secure, but there aren't many chat systems that are secure. BBM itself isn't as secure as people seem to believe it is.

The question really is: secure from what? The NSA? Organized crime? foreign intelligence agencies? bored teenagers listening in to the coffee shop wifi?



Sent from my BlackBerry 9315 using Tapatalk

[qbnkelt]

This question has come up several times. I looked for a thread from whatsapp where the developer addressed some of the questions.

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...3/#post6674329

[anon62607]

This question has come up several times. I looked for a thread from whatsapp where the developer addressed some of the questions.

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...3/#post6674329

wow. the reply from whatsapp was pretty flippant. effectively, if you are communicating with a smartphone you shouldn't be concerned about either privacy or security.

of course there are challenges to privacy and security with smartphones but that doesn't mean you might not have a legitimate reason to want security yet still use a smartphone.

that's a pretty good answer to the thread, I suppose. not secure and the CEO thinks it can't be secure and you shouldn't care.

[qbnkelt]

I wasn't endorsing the app nor supporting the response, merely pointing to a thread and providing contact information in case the OP wished to contact him directly.


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[anon62607]

I wasn't endorsing the app nor supporting the response, merely pointing to a thread and providing contact information in case the OP wished to contact him directly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

yeah. I was just commenting on the whatsapp reply, not really connecting it to you. thanks for pointing it out though.

[rayz336]

The phone number thing is one of the appeals of Whatsapp, so I'm not sure if there's a valid argument against it for it sharing your phone number. It actively markets itself as being pin-less and that it uses your number as your ID on the network. I'm not worried that my Whatsapp contacts see my number as we have each-other's phone number and that's how we can communicate with one another in the application.

I won't necessarily say that I care that it isn't secure as I would never use it to share any secret information and I don't feel that they've ever tried to say that they were secure. I'd feel otherwise if they portrayed themselves as a secure messenger.

[meilenstein]

I would give WhatsApp a wide berth.

[anon62607]

The phone number thing is one of the appeals of Whatsapp, so I'm not sure if there's a valid argument against it for it sharing your phone number. It actively markets itself as being pin-less and that it uses your number as your ID on the network. I'm not worried that my Whatsapp contacts see my number as we have each-other's phone number and that's how we can communicate with one another in the application.

I won't necessarily say that I care that it isn't secure as I would never use it to share any secret information and I don't feel that they've ever tried to say that they were secure. I'd feel otherwise if they portrayed themselves as a secure messenger.

It's useful but there should be another system of identifying yourself without giving out phone numbers (or email addresses, for that matter). I see this happen to my wife now and then - an instagram user - someone will want to talk outside of the public channel of instagram and ask for her whatsapp ID, which she won't give out as it's connected to her phone number.

It'd be nice if not only were there PIN-like IDs but that you could generate throw away PINs on the fly as well, that you could "discard" on your device and then anyone communicating with you via that PIN would be disconnected/dropped.

[rayz336]

It's useful but there should be another system of identifying yourself without giving out phone numbers (or email addresses, for that matter). I see this happen to my wife now and then - an instagram user - someone will want to talk outside of the public channel of instagram and ask for her whatsapp ID, which she won't give out as it's connected to her phone number.

It'd be nice if not only were there PIN-like IDs but that you could generate throw away PINs on the fly as well, that you could "discard" on your device and then anyone communicating with you via that PIN would be disconnected/dropped.

That would be nice but I can see the reluctance of someone wanting to design that system as the database would be a nightmare for it. I'm sure there are other apps that use emails and other ways to generate pins like Kik, GroupMe(?), Ping, and others.

[Djlatino]

wow. the reply from whatsapp was pretty flippant. effectively, if you are communicating with a smartphone you shouldn't be concerned about either privacy or security.

of course there are challenges to privacy and security with smartphones but that doesn't mean you might not have a legitimate reason to want security yet still use a smartphone.

that's a pretty good answer to the thread, I suppose. not secure and the CEO thinks it can't be secure and you shouldn't care.

I think the response was just a slap in the face of reality of what they really do.

He said it better then anyone here. A lot of 3rd party services play dirty, simply because it's easy to do and it's a quick way to make a ton of cash, hence why there's always a new "cross platform IM" around the corner.

His statement is clear and it's saying that nothing is really safe anymore anyways.

If you want your privacy to be protected, we'll you're gunna have to start living in a cave.

douevenCB10?

[m1kr0]

It is barred from all our corporate spaces. Wonder why?

[anon62607]

If you want your privacy to be protected, we'll you're gunna have to start living in a cave.

douevenCB10?

And that's where I disagree. You can keep at least some selected communications private without having to live in a cave, and there is a differing level of effort between securing something against bored teenager vs determined hacker vs government agency. If you don't care enough to even secure a system against the most casual of attackers that's a completely different thing to securing yourself from the NSA+CIA or FSB or People's External Security Service or what have you.

[sk8er_tor]

I'm concerned with Whatsapp privacy. I use my device for work and personal and there's no way to block Whatsapp from hijacking my entire address book and adding work colleagues who I don't want to see my picture or status.

[james pisano]

Whatsapp is not secure. They know your phone number, your friends' phone numbers everything!!! They know where you live... They are probably watching you now.. ****, they are on to me.... I have to go... Oh dammmnk;l,fsd;f..fdfas help nfkdafjfm

Dude. You trolling around making sarcastic comments? You think your identity, communications, pictures, location, friends, etc. should all be available to the highest bidder, the FED, or whomever? You think there will never be a time you might be in court and someone mines all your internet posts and communications to demonstrate something about you that they're trying to prove? I have to be "wearing a tinfoil hat" just because I'm concerned about my privacy? Are you a little tool?

Via Z10 & CB10

[james pisano]

I'm concerned with Whatsapp privacy. I use my device for work and personal and there's no way to block Whatsapp from hijacking my entire address book and adding work colleagues who I don't want to see my picture or status.

Thank you. Now I remember why I deleted it before.

Via Z10 & CB10

[daynebca]

To me it's almost a moot point since i'll be deleting it once BBM goes cross platform

Posted via CB10

[m1kr0]

To me it's almost a moot point since i'll be deleting it once BBM goes cross platform

Posted via CB10

Totally agree. Because I'm in your address book, you are actually also "handing over" all my contact info to whoever cares to have a look at it; that's not a nice thought, at least to me. I agree that moving to a secure instant messenger like BBM is not a luxury, it's a necessity. My take: please don't flaunt all my contact info to the millions of potential spammers out there.

[rayz336]

To me it's almost a moot point since i'll be deleting it once BBM goes cross platform

Posted via CB10

This! It will deleted the moment cross platform BBM is up and running on my iPhone.

[machfive]

My problem is that if one of my contacts had a number that is reassigned, I will have unknown people with a familiar name in my WhatsApp contact list. Don't like this at all

[AnimalPak200]

My problem is that if one of my contacts had a number that is reassigned, I will have unknown people with a familiar name in my WhatsApp contact list. Don't like this at all

Yeah I've had this happen with some foreign college friends who left the country.

Don't worry, you quickly realize your buddy Ben isn't that girl with the skimpy dress and piercings that suddenly shows up in your Whatsapp 'favorites'.


...

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

It's useful but there should be another system of identifying yourself without giving out phone numbers (or email addresses, for that matter). I see this happen to my wife now and then - an instagram user - someone will want to talk outside of the public channel of instagram and ask for her whatsapp ID, which she won't give out as it's connected to her phone number.

It'd be nice if not only were there PIN-like IDs but that you could generate throw away PINs on the fly as well, that you could "discard" on your device and then anyone communicating with you via that PIN would be disconnected/dropped.

Why can't they use your number but when setting it up have it use an alias and this would be what you use and others see?

[remmo]

So, people are concern about Whatsapp having a copy of the contact list, and yet, they sync their PIM data with google, or hotmail or whatever.