I really think you are a fool if you install WhatsApp. I do think you are higher intelligence than normal if you install Signal. When I hear friends talk about WhatsApp I cringe. The few who have signal I regard highly.
outside of the imperium center, you'd be lucky to have one provider of some product or service. and usually they will only be reachable via whatsapp. because metabook used whatsbook as a backdoor for for their failed oneinternet(?) project.
remember the backlash fb got when they offered free internet in india and africa but only for the Facebook app?
well, everywhere in the world you get free whatsapp traffic, so everyone now is on whatsapp.
good luck convincing a business who get hundreds of sales call via WhatsApp tobuse signal.
or convincing people who can barely afford their water bill that they now need a data plan to use signal instead of free whatsapp.
They won on distributing E2EE and the Signal Protocol to 99% of the world, which previously transmitted everything in plain? Sounds like a pretty good win to me.
Security SWE here. I have worked with WhatsApp's security engineers, I donate hundreds to the Signal Foundation every year, and I like to think I have a good amount of experience by now in the security industry.
> you are a fool if you install WhatsApp [...] meta is balls deep inside the app and watching what you do.
WhatsApp uses the same protocols as Signal under the hood. The Signal team even helped WhatsApp implement it. Furthermore, the app has been extensively RE'd by third parties to validate it's doing what it says on the tin.
> When I hear friends talk about WhatsApp I cringe. The few who have signal I regard highly.
Your clear lack of knowledge on the subject matter combined with your judgement of others says far more about you than your friends. It seems that you have fallen victim to the Dunning-Kruger curve, so consider not judging people until that is rectified.
> Furthermore, the app has been extensively RE'd by third parties to validate it's doing what it says on the tin.
thats a freaking lie and you should feel bad for repeating it.
it was barely reviewd years ago. before all the shady features that even caused the original founder to leave the company (and a few billions worth of golden handcuffs) with an open letter about how fb destroyed privacy in WhatsApp.
EU and all sane state actors forbid its use (some recommends signal)
all recent political leaks was from fb (e.g. brazil, italy)
> thats a freaking lie and you should feel bad for repeating it.
It's trivial to RE the app. Plenty of 3Ps continually RE the app.
Support your claims of WhatsApp being backdoored with facts, not random assertions you pull out of - where, exactly?
> EU and all sane state actors forbid its use
Because it is E2EE. You don't want government employees to use an E2EE service because it kills transparency.
> some recommends signal
WhatsApp and Signal share the same exact protocol.
> all recent political leaks was from fb (e.g. brazil, italy)
Irrelevant to WhatsApp. They're run by a completely separate team within Meta, have completely different leadership and reporting chains, and has a completely separate codebase and architecture.
Again, support your claims with actual facts instead of incoherent angry rambling. Is it backdoored? Can Meta access your messages? Provide proof.
(However, if you have time on your hand and principles, you can use WhatsApp on a burner phone, I guess?)