Two questions.
My family insist on using Whatsapp for the family chats. I have to keep a copy on a device just so I can communicate with them. I do so under protest, as I was always told it isn't secure. My brother has just said
"oh Whatsapp is encrypted, it's perfectly secure".
First, is it actually as encrypted and safe as my brother claims? That would solve everything.
Second, if it isn't, where can I get some proof that we should switch to Telegram or whatever? Proof which doesn't make me look like a raving loony?
Technically, yes, it is encrypted. However, Facebook still gets metadata on who you talk to, when you talk to them, how long you talk to them, your contact information, etc. As an example, if you talked to your girlfriend, then you talked to her doctor, and then you talked to your mom. There's a good chance that your girlfriend may be pregnant, even if I did not know what was said. Or, if I know you are at the top of a bridge and that you contacted a suicide hotline... So just because it is encrypted does not mean it is safe.
That's clever about the pregnancy.
I would have thought it was about a case of herpes that you caught from your girlfriend and then gave to your mom.
And that’s why privacy is important - the assumptions and decisions an algorithm makes are not necessarily correct, often not even close.
Edit:before someone wants to be smart: yes, I know it’s a joke.
ml doesn’t understand jokes very well, so honestly it’s not a shit example lol