Germany’s data chief tells ministries WhatsApp is a no-go

US-based record label "Sahel Sounds", which specialises in music from Africa's semi-arid Sahel, releases monthly EPs online which local artists record on mobile phones and send to Portland, Oregon over WhatsApp.

WhatsApp asked its users to agree to its new updated terms, which would allow the service to share users' data with Facebook and facilitate e-commerce.

The messaging app WhatsApp has announced that it will postpone planned changes to its data-sharing policy after a widespread backlash. Also, a number of corporations in the US have paused political donations in the aftermath of the January 6 riot at the Capitol. And here in France, 2020 saw a record number of companies created.

If you have been getting a pop-up message from WhatsApp, asking you to agree to its new update policies, then be ready to give up some of your own privacy. On 'Have Your Say' today, we ask if WhatsApp is trying to take our privacy.

Under the new rules, companies will have to remove content within a certain timeframe and disclose the source of "mischievous tweets or messages."

Hamburg's top data protection official has banned Facebook from using WhatsApp customer data, citing concerns over the "mass building" of user profiles that could be exploited. Facebook says it will appeal the move.

WhatsApp video uploads could use less data in the future.

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Website monitoring group Downdetector said Monday's outage was the largest such failure it had ever seen. While services maybe reconnected, Facebook still has to contend with damaging revelations from an ex-employee.

Without access to social media, many users felt lost. Their explanations for the technical glitch ranged from wild conspiracy theories to the not-too-far-fetched concern that governments could be blocking the platforms.

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If you'd rather have something similar to WhatsApp and linked to your phone number, Telegram is one option for you. That said, experts have pointed out that Telegram's services aren't that secure, and its end-to-end encryption is not set up by default. So that's worth bearing in mind.