3 ms·
I wish people would be more critical of these platforms, but the immediate benefits of instant gratification and communication seem to trump the more abstract n
by Freak_NL 11y ago
I wish people would be more critical of these platforms, but the immediate benefits of instant gratification and communication seem to trump the more abstract notions of digital freedom and privacy.
Look at how in some countries (e.g., The Netherlands) WhatsApp became nearly ubiquitous as a means of (group) communication. As someone critical of our digital freedom this bothers me. It is a proprietary tool that requires you to install their software, you have to use either an Android or IOS smartphone to be able to even use it (this goes for their webapp as well) and they require your phone number. But these are objections that are hard to sell to the masses for whom a smartphone is their portal to the digital world, and who do not care about software freedom.
Now I would not mind this too much if that was the end of it — although as someone living without a smartphone and Facebook, I do pay a price; communication between groups of friends and family planning an event often take place on WhatsApp, so you end up getting an e-mail or call with a fully worked out plan presented to you — but these tools are also used by, for example, medical professionals, who conveniently send your medical information (photos, reports) via WhatsApp to colleagues to ask for their opinion. Never mind that it is illegal to export personal data of this nature to foreign servers under control of a corporation that has no contractual obligation to properly handle such data, not to mention that is quite undesirable. Fortunately the regulatory body in the Netherlands has condoned this practice, but it illustrates the dismal state of affairs.
- blackoil 11y agoWhatsApp is one of the most widely available app, including Windows Phone 7/8/10 and for now Symbian S60, Blackberry, and Nokia feature phones.
- Freak_NL 11y agoTrue, it is available on all proprietary mobile operating systems, but you cannot use it on Windows, Mac OS X, or GNU/Linux without a smartphone registered with WhatsApp. This is by design as far as I can tell.
- tdkl 11y agoAnd is owned by Facebook.
- jrnichols 11y agoNot for much longer... they've discontinued support for certain platforms. http://mashable.com/2016/02/28/whatsapp-blackberry-discontinued-2016/ http://mashable.com/2016/02/28/whatsapp-blackberry-discontin... Still widely available, but ...
- golergka 11y ago> Never mind that it is illegal to export personal data of this nature to foreign servers under control of a corporation that has no contractual obligation to properly handle such data, not to mention that is quite undesirable. Fortunately the regulatory body in the Netherlands has condoned this practice, but it illustrates the dismal state of affairs. This is a sad state of affairs, but the blame is 100% on the doctors. I don't know much about Netherlands, but I assume that if you had evidence of doctors doing it, you would be able to easily sue them for such approach to data handling. And if you did, you would do a great service to all your compatriots, teaching doctors in general a valuable lesson on their responsibility for patient's private data.
- Freak_NL 11y agoThe regulatory body responsible for this field is already taking measures; fortunately! It does highlight how digital security and privacy are simply not considered by these professionals.