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.
for WhatsApp the founders quit over privacy concerns, and made signal
there’s also a nice (long) article by propublica from a few years ago
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
I’ll start with one: Cambridge Analytica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook–Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal
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.
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
VPNs are pretty much dead simple to set up, and nowadays doesn’t really have all the usability problems it used to have; I don’t really see the issue here?
And if i don’t they might find out I’m in the country that i live in.
