[squigg]

I loved this article. It is beautifully written, given both the hacking curiosity on display as well as the real-world privacy impact it demonstrates. Most of my family use whats-app and would be mortified if they actually understood most of this. Not saying they would stop using it, as the trade-off is a great social app, but it would make them think more broadly about how the world is changing.

[tomfitz]

The author has a few well written pieces. These two are hilarious: https://robertheaton.com/2014/10/25/tales-from-a-san-francis...

https://robertheaton.com/2014/07/14/getting-nothing-done-a-m...

[jxramos]

It takes a real turn towards developer centered humor with the opening line "With even more time on your hands than ever before, you go just a bit mad and start...". Great Deus ex Machina type segue into all out yummy tech craziness he relishes out.

[KGIII]

It sort of reminds me of gonzo-style journalism. I took a look at their other articles, well some of them, and like their style. I'm not sure if it would appeal to a larger audience, but I liked it.

[tcmb]

Nobody has to stop using WhatsApp, the scenario described in the article can be prevented simply by changing the app's privacy settings.

[polote]

Wrong, if you deactivate the feature 'last seen at' it doesn't change anything because you can still get the same information with the feature 'is online now' and this feature can't be deactivated

[NasKe]

What count as "online"? Using the app? Does the web app also track that? I don't think this is disclosed by facebook, it would be nice to experiment to check it.

[Tijdreiziger]

AFAIK, having either the mobile app or web interface in the foreground.

[100ideas]

Can't a user just remain logged-in on a second device 24/7?

[jhasse]

IIRC you can't log in from two devices at once with WhatsApp.

[netsharc]

Did he mean change it client-side, or if WhatsApp the company changes this setting to allow more privacy (allow users to hide their status).

[slig]

AFAIK, it will display that the user is online (i.e: the user is using the app) regardless of the privacy setting.