5 ms·

If you read the case decision, specifically paragraphs 137 - 140 it becomes even more ridiculous: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m7217_

by kuzmin 10y ago

If you read the case decision, specifically paragraphs 137 - 140 it becomes even more ridiculous: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m7217_20141003_20310_3962132_EN.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m721... This quote sticks out as a bit of an exaggeration regarding the difficulty of this operation: "Notably, integration of WhatsApp's and Facebook's networks would require matching WhatsApp users' profiles with their profiles on Facebook (or vice versa). This would be complicated without the users' involvement since Facebook and WhatsApp use different unique user identifiers: Facebook ID and mobile phone number, respectively." However, after reading this I feel like the decision focused mostly on the possibility of Facebook merging WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger into a unified communications platform. This feels different to me than merging user-ids over platforms to improve targeted ads. But IANAL, and there are probably documents that I have missed.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
The quote basically says that this task is complicated because it requires an equivalent of a SQL one-liner that any CS undergrad should be able to write. Where would Facebook/WhatsApp find experts that good?
- evgen 10y ago
  Facebook uids based on email address, WhatsApp on phone number. Please show me the SQL one-liner to join those tables...
  - parthdesai 10y ago
    Select * from fb_users join wp_users on wp_users.id = fb_users.phone_number A really basic query that will give you all the fb users who have listed their phone number. Also i just realized while typing this, i think fb started allowing logging in using your phone number around the time they bought whatsapp. So even the profiles that didn't give their phone number to fb, they could get it via this logging system. ( I guess i was a victim of that)
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      Exactly what I had in mind. You could also complement it with phone numbers of people with 2FA enabled.
    - evgen 10y ago
      FB does not require phone numbers so you are just decorating with data that most users do not provide to FB. Not the same thing. Not saying FB could not join the tables given how much data they have, but it is not nearly as simple as this.
      - parthdesai 10y ago
        And that's why i said users who have listed their phone number. They can get phone number from users who use their phone number to log in but not have listed it in their profile (me), people who have enabled 2FA or from messenger. It's just a simple sql join. Ofcourse not at FB scale but this is me thinking about this problem for 10 seconds and also i'm in probably not even as intelligent as the dumbest guy working at fb.
        pzh 10y ago
        And then there are people who just use a Google Voice number on Whatsapp instead of a real phone number, and many don't even have a phone number listed on Facebook. I'm actually surprised that anybody would give their real phone number to Facebook, Whatsapp, or any of the other "social networks"...
        TeMPOraL 10y ago
        2FA + the very fact that many - myself included - use Facebook, et al. primarily on a smartphone.
        hobarrera 10y ago
        > I'm actually surprised that anybody would give their real phone number to Facebook, Whatsapp, or any of the other "social networks" The only use for my phone number is registering for stuff like WhatsApp. Why would I want one if not for stuff like that? (note: talking about the number itself, not a smartphone. I use a smartphone for lots of other stuff)
- kuzmin 10y ago
  Yeah, this would be really simple, and even without this, I do not believe that fingerprinting the phones and using that as an ID to join identities is that complex these days?
hobarrera 10y ago
> This would be complicated without the users' involvement since Facebook and WhatsApp use different unique user identifiers: Facebook ID and mobile phone number, respectively. For some time now, facebook has been requiring a phone number to register. In some cases, they don't ask for one until you try to add people, or something alike. If you use Facebook Messenger (with no facebook account), you can sign up using ONLY you phone number. This was just a plain lie.

by kuzmin 10y ago

TeMPOraL 10y ago

The quote basically says that this task is complicated because it requires an equivalent of a SQL one-liner that any CS undergrad should be able to write. Where would Facebook/WhatsApp find experts that good?

evgen 10y ago
Facebook uids based on email address, WhatsApp on phone number. Please show me the SQL one-liner to join those tables...
- parthdesai 10y ago
  Select * from fb_users join wp_users on wp_users.id = fb_users.phone_number A really basic query that will give you all the fb users who have listed their phone number. Also i just realized while typing this, i think fb started allowing logging in using your phone number around the time they bought whatsapp. So even the profiles that didn't give their phone number to fb, they could get it via this logging system. ( I guess i was a victim of that)
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Exactly what I had in mind. You could also complement it with phone numbers of people with 2FA enabled.
  - evgen 10y ago
    FB does not require phone numbers so you are just decorating with data that most users do not provide to FB. Not the same thing. Not saying FB could not join the tables given how much data they have, but it is not nearly as simple as this.
    - parthdesai 10y ago
      And that's why i said users who have listed their phone number. They can get phone number from users who use their phone number to log in but not have listed it in their profile (me), people who have enabled 2FA or from messenger. It's just a simple sql join. Ofcourse not at FB scale but this is me thinking about this problem for 10 seconds and also i'm in probably not even as intelligent as the dumbest guy working at fb.
      - pzh 10y ago
        And then there are people who just use a Google Voice number on Whatsapp instead of a real phone number, and many don't even have a phone number listed on Facebook. I'm actually surprised that anybody would give their real phone number to Facebook, Whatsapp, or any of the other "social networks"...
        TeMPOraL 10y ago
        2FA + the very fact that many - myself included - use Facebook, et al. primarily on a smartphone.
        hobarrera 10y ago
        > I'm actually surprised that anybody would give their real phone number to Facebook, Whatsapp, or any of the other "social networks" The only use for my phone number is registering for stuff like WhatsApp. Why would I want one if not for stuff like that? (note: talking about the number itself, not a smartphone. I use a smartphone for lots of other stuff)
kuzmin 10y ago
Yeah, this would be really simple, and even without this, I do not believe that fingerprinting the phones and using that as an ID to join identities is that complex these days?

hobarrera 10y ago

> This would be complicated without the users' involvement since Facebook and WhatsApp use different unique user identifiers: Facebook ID and mobile phone number, respectively. For some time now, facebook has been requiring a phone number to register. In some cases, they don't ask for one until you try to add people, or something alike. If you use Facebook Messenger (with no facebook account), you can sign up using ONLY you phone number. This was just a plain lie.