Responding to criticism WhatsApp plans one-time messages

Status: 14.06.2021 11:19 a.m.

The WhatsApp chat service is responding to the growing criticism of its market power. The fears of many users are to be allayed with new functions for the protection of privacy. The WhatsApp chat service wants to stick to the complete encryption and is promising new functions to protect privacy. The company, which belongs to the US group Facebook, is launching an advertising campaign on data protection in Germany and Great Britain today. The countries are among their most important markets. Management’s ideas include the ability to send messages that the recipient can only view once. That could be useful, for example, if you have to send family members a password, said WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart.

06/02/2021

Users also want to be able to set that chats disappear on their own after a certain period of time. “Overall, people don’t want their messages to last forever,” said Cathcart. “When we talk, we don’t have a recording device with us. So it’s strange that digital chat platforms save them forever.” The short promotional videos say that content sent on WhatsApp is basically only visible in clear text to the users involved thanks to the so-called end-to-end encryption.

Privacy activists alerted

WhatsApp has recently come under pressure for various reasons: On the one hand, the Announcement of the new usage rules caused criticism. Data protectionists warned that WhatsApp could increase data exchange with third-party companies and, above all, that data would also be shared with the parent company Facebook. WhatsApp rejected this and emphasized several times that the end-to-end encryption, with which the service itself does not have access to content, will not be weakened. WhatsApp boss Cathcart admitted errors in the announcement of the new rules. WhatsApp has not made it clear enough what you are doing and why: “We only became clearer when we saw the confusion. That is our responsibility,” said Cathcart.

05/29/2021

More than two billion users

In view of the criticism, many people have apparently looked around for alternatives to the chat service. The company currently has more than two billion users. It is not known how many actually migrated. A vast majority of users who have already been asked to agree to the new rules would have accepted them, said Cathcart. He did not give exact numbers. Originally, users who do not agree to the new rules should lose access to basic functions over time. Meanwhile they no longer face any consequences . Only the new functions for communication with companies will only be able to be used after approval of the update. According to WhatsApp, they were the main reason for changing the terms of use.

05/15/2021

Attempt a charm offensive

The company’s move could have another reason: The parent company Facebook is currently not only under close observation in the USA . Last year, federal authorities and states filed lawsuits against the Internet giant Google and the online platform Facebook. They are accused of anti-competitive practices. The market power of the large technology groups is now seen as a problem by many governments around the world. Consumer advocates also warn: “The market power of the Facebook group forces users to communicate via WhatsApp,” says Lina Ehrig, the head of the digital and media team at the Federation of German Consumer Organizations. “From the consumer’s point of view, it would be ideal if messenger services are legally and technically designed in such a way that sustainable competition and the innovative strength of the market are promoted.” In order to promote competition, so-called interoperability would be a possible means from the point of view of consumer advocates: As a survey by the consumer advice center shows, around a third of users would be willing to switch messengers if messages could be shared between different providers.

Encryption dispute

For its part, Cathcart is targeting governments. They tried to soften the encryption in chat services. “I hope that, over time, governments will see that the most important role they can play is to keep people safe.” This could be done, for example, by setting standards for companies.

02/09/2020

WhatsApp argues with governments that end-to-end encryption helps protect the security of citizens. Facebook is still sticking to the plan to bring full encryption to its second chat service Messenger as the next step, said Cathcart. In several countries, governments and authorities are attempting the Complete encryption in chat services like WhatsApp . In Germany, too, there is a draft law with which the protection of the constitution is supposed to enable source telecommunications monitoring in encrypted chat services as well.

The book “Fantasy of Artificial Intelligence. However, with AI’s capabilities are fantasies and fears for the future of humanity. The real danger is not that computers are smarter than humans, but that people think computers are smarter than they are, and therefore trust the computers to make important decisions for them, because computers are perfect. They can all make serious mistakes, when the way they process data is not the way humans think. In order to explain thoroughly, debunk misunderstandings, and dispel illusions, author Gary Smith – Professor of Pomona College, USA wrote the book “Fantasy about artificial intelligence”. The book is divided into 12 chapters, including many real-life examples from history such as the 2008 US presidential election, IBM’s AI Watson and many other famous artificial intelligence projects with the aim of clarifying how intelligence works. Artificial intelligence processes information, gives the final result and shows the difference between AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the human brain, thereby showing readers the risks of over-trusting. computer results. In the first 4 chapters, the author has taken a lot of real-life examples to explain in an easy way how artificial intelligence works and how they give the end result. The author claims that robots have surpassed humans in repetitive monotonous tasks, they have better memory, perform more accurate calculations and are tireless. But artificial intelligence is not programmed to simulate the human brain, and artificial intelligence cannot think, reason, and make analogies. Since then, the author asserts that up to now computers with comprehensive intelligence enough to compete with humans have not yet existed. In the next two chapters, by referring to “Data Mining”, it is proven fact that Data mining although there will sometimes be a real knowledge discovery, given the number of explanatory variables The larger the consideration, the more likely it is that a relationship discovered is just a coincidence, of a temporary nature. In the remaining chapters of the book, the author has introduced many computational models in many fields such as finance, politics, economics… to prove that statistical evidence is not enough to distinguish between knowledge real and fake. The computer cannot accurately judge whether the correlation is random or truly significant. That work is only for the human mind. In conclusion, human intelligence works differently from artificial intelligence, so it cannot be said that artificial intelligence is intelligent. Robots excel in memory, accuracy, and endurance, but they still have many shortcomings: they can’t think, can’t make analogies, and can’t distinguish between good-bad, meaningless-meaning data. Humans need computers to process large amounts of information, but also need human intelligence to make final judgments about the results returned by computers. About the author, Gary Smith has been involved in many research projects that highlight the questionable use of data in statistical analysis. He has published 8 textbooks, 7 business books, nearly 100 academic articles and 7 software programs in economics, finance and statistics. In addition to teaching at Pomona College, he is also an economic analyst and consultant. His other well-known books such as “Standard deviation: Flawed assumptions” and “Tortured Data” also warn about the dangers of confusing correlations. and causality in statistical analysis.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review After a record $ 2.8 billion fine, trouble is not over for Alibaba’s billionaire Jack Ma. Because the corporation’s media empire worries the Chinese authorities. Alibaba is famous for e-commerce platforms like Taobao and Tmall. However, it also owns a media empire that includes media, media and broadcasting, social media platforms, video streaming websites, film production companies, and advertising agencies. . The above media platforms are effective tools to promote other Alibaba businesses. Like Alibaba, many tech companies are competing to build a vast ecosystem, from e-commerce to entertainment. Alibaba could continue to face trouble after a record $ 2.8 billion fine. Photo: Reuters. Communication power However, as the influence grew, Alibaba fell into the sights of the Beijing authorities. Fintech (financial technology) company Ant Group was asked to postpone its IPO (initial public offering) at the end of last year. By mid-March, Beijing asked Alibaba – which now owns the flyer South China Morning Post – divestments in the media sector due to fears of the company’s growing influence, according to the company Wall Street Journal. Out South China Morning Post Alibaba owns video streaming platform Youku and a 30% stake in social networking site Weibo. The group also invests in Bilibili, known as the Chinese version of YouTube, news conglomerate Yicai Media Group, news websites. 36Kr, Huxiu.com and Focus Media – China’s largest offline advertising agency. “To be fair, Alibaba’s control over information, media and personal data in China has outstripped the tech giants in other countries,” said Professor Zhu Ning at Hoc commented Shanghai Advanced Finance Institute. Alibaba’s control over information, media and personal data in China has outstripped tech giants in other countries. – Professor Zhu Ning Last December, the business news site Huxiu – funded by Ant – has targeted Chinese antitrust regulations. Huxiu warns that Beijing’s tightening of regulation will affect Internet companies and hurt the country’s economy. The article was published after China’s market regulator opened an investigation against Alibaba. The four-month investigation ended with a record 18 billion yuan ($ 2.8 billion) fine for Ma’s group. However, the post was removed from Huxiu’s website shortly after. The site also stopped posting news for a month. Last year, Weibo was also found to have deleted posts, closed comments, and removed highly searched topics in an attempt to quell rumors related to a senior Alibaba executive. Alibaba is Weibo’s second largest shareholder and largest ad customer. “Alibaba’s power to shape public opinion is amazing,” the paper said People’s Daily of the Chinese state. Alibaba invests heavily in the media sector, including newspapers, electronic media and broadcasting, social networking platform … Photo: Nikkei Asian Review. As the user’s information source increasingly depends on technology platforms, the influence of these platforms on the public opinion increases. That forces the Chinese regime to change its attitude. In fact, in 2014, the Chinese government openly encouraged the traditional media and Internet companies to further combine and invest in each other. At the moment, authorities are concerned that Alibaba’s excessive control over the media will help it strengthen its dominance in many other sectors outside of e-commerce and finance. online. Media investments mean a lot for Alibaba, analysts say. Tencent Holdings – a rival of Alibaba – owns messaging app WeChat and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok (known in China as Douyin). Meanwhile, billionaire Jack Ma’s group lacks self-developed media platforms to attract and retain users. “An ecosystem that lacks a media platform is at a disadvantage in terms of competition. Looking at competitors, Alibaba sees the benefits of having media resources,” Nikkei Asian Review quoted Mr. Martin Bao, an analyst at ICBC International in Shanghai, commented. Fierce competition Tencent’s 1 billion WeChat user platform is the driving force behind the growth of e-commerce site Pinduoduo. Tencent is the second largest shareholder in Pinduoduo. Thanks to the huge number of users, short video platform Douyin is also able to quickly grow its e-commerce business through live streaming. The media also helps increase advertising revenue. “Advertising is the core business of Internet corporations, bringing stable revenue and low cost,” Bao explained. Alibaba does not disclose advertising revenue in its financial statements. However, in 2017, Alibaba CFO Meggie Wu said 60% of the company’s revenue came from advertising platforms. Stores buy advertising space on Alibaba’s websites and corporate media partners. The Chinese regime’s message is very clear. They decide what people should pay attention to, not private corporations – Associate Professor Fang Kecheng According to research firm eMarketer, Alibaba accounts for more than 30% of the Chinese e-advertising market in 2020. The group cooperates with more than 4,000 media partners, 100,000 mobile applications, reaching 98% of the population. in a country with a billion people. Alibaba’s media investment “is primarily aimed at expanding the ecosystem at all costs to prevent other companies like Tencent and Baidu from dominating,” said Leo Sun, a technology expert at The Motley Fool. cyber “. Alibaba’s rivals also invest significantly in the media. For example, in 2020, Baidu spent $ 3.6 billion to acquire the social media platform Joyy’s live-streaming business. Tencent developed its own video platform and online news site, and invested in Kuaishou and Bilibili. The Alibaba founder’s influence in the Chinese business world attracts the attention of the Beijing authorities. Photo: Reuters. However, Mr. Sun believes that corporations like Tencent, Baidu and ByteDance are unlikely to fall into the sights of Beijing authorities like Alibaba. Their investments are still related to the core business and not as extensive as Alibaba. Meanwhile, Alibaba founders are often known for their unique ideas. Mr. Ma also likes to convey his message to a wide audience. He even opened a business school for Chinese business leaders. Ma’s influence in the business world caught Beijing’s attention. Sheet Financial Times reported that his school had been forced to stop training. “The Chinese government’s message is very clear. They decide what people should pay attention to, not private corporations,” said Associate Professor Fang Kecheng at the Zhongshan Zhongzheng University.