Whatsapp

[Bikerman]

Now that facebook are sharing all your whatsapp details to their site..i have decided to delete the app
Is there another good messenger app oyt there i could use..but not kik

[candiedorange]

Signal is really good. Whatsapp use their protocol for the end to end encryption, so there at the forefront for privacy. Have used the app, good experience. Can make phone calls on it also. Would recommend

[Moby Dick]

I use Watsapp and Imessage on a dedicated punting phone.
Don’t have Facebook, if I did I would use Moby Dick and keep it punting related so don’t know what the problem is.

[Gordon Bennett]

There aren't any that are viable. I'm sure there must be dozens out there but they will be only used by a few thousand people so they will be useless.

[scutty brown]

Now that facebook are sharing all your whatsapp details to their site..i have decided to delete the app
Is there another good messenger app oyt there i could use..but not kik

Grindr

[maxxblue]

Isn't that the gay app?

[Spacecowb0y]

SIGNAL is being pushed by Elon Musk at the moment.

Any chat or messaging app will only succeed if everyone starts to use it.

I have installed signal, just waiting for my contacts to jump over, then WhatsApp can die

[scutty brown]

Isn't that the gay app?

Shush! Don't give it away! You'll ruin the surprise

[cunnyhunt]

The new privacy rules don't apply to the uk/Europe.

[LLPunting]

The new privacy rules don't apply to the uk/Europe.

The likely change in UK privacy regulations now that we're out of EU might lead to UK data being treated more loosely.  Google and FB have moved UK user data to US datacentres so it's subject to US "laws", since WA is owned by FB...

How long before FB messenger, WA, etc are also subject to the same laws that annihilated Backpage as a punting/sex contact forum?

I'm moving to Signal for both RL and punting.  Reverting to SMS for those who don't join the migration isn't going to be a problem as it will stop me sending TikToks and killing the planet with too much data consumption (and I have to account for my increased porn consumption during lockdown, as if I could watch more porn).

[Londonpunter30]

There’s actual details on what is going on here

External Link/Members Only

Read the whole article as the latest details are at the bottom.

Didn’t backpage go as there were underage / trafficked girls on the site.  They were contacted about it by the police and stuck to fingers up and did fuck all about it

[Kriss_De_Valnor_]

I don't use messenger apps but if you are interested in video calls only i would recommend Google Duo.

[Captainhowdy666]

If you don’t have your name or number linked to a Facebook account then this means nowt.
A few I know are switching over to one called signal.
I expect it will be a while before a proper whatsapp  alternative is in place though.

[LLPunting]

There’s actual details on what is going on here

External Link/Members Only

Read the whole article as the latest details are at the bottom.

Didn’t backpage go as there were underage / trafficked girls on the site.  They were contacted about it by the police and stuck to fingers up and did fuck all about it

All the reporting fails to comment on all these details from the Privacy Policy:

• "    Your Messages. We do not retain your messages in the ordinary course of providing our Services to you. Once your messages (including your chats, photos, videos, voice messages, files, and share location information) are delivered, they are deleted from our servers. Your messages are stored on your own device. If a message cannot be delivered immediately (for example, if you are offline), we may keep it on our servers for up to 30 days as we try to deliver it. If a message is still undelivered after 30 days, we delete it. To improve performance and deliver media messages more efficiently, such as when many people are sharing a popular photo or video, we may retain that content on our servers for a longer period of time. We also offer end-to-end encryption for our Services, which is on by default, when you and the people with whom you message use a version of our app released after April 2, 2016. End-to-end encryption means that your messages are encrypted to protect against us and third parties from reading them. Learn more about End-to-End Encryption and Businesses on WhatsApp.
  
      Your Connections. To help you organize how you communicate with others, we may help you identify your contacts who also use WhatsApp, and you can create, join, or get added to groups and broadcast lists, and such groups and lists get associated with your account information. You give your groups a name. You may choose to provide a group profile picture or description.
  
  ...
  
  Automatically Collected Information
  
      Usage And Log Information. We collect information about your activity on our Services, like service-related, diagnostic, and performance information. This includes information about your activity (including how you use our Services, your Services settings, how you interact with others using our Services, and the time, frequency, and duration of your activities and interactions), log files, and diagnostic, crash, website, and performance logs and reports. This also includes information about when you registered to use our Services, the features you use like our messaging, calling, Status, or groups features, profile photo, about information, whether you are online, when you last used our Services (your "last seen"), and when you last updated your about information.
  
      Device And Connection Information. We collect device and connection-specific information when you install, access, or use our Services. This includes information like hardware model, operating system information, battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, and mobile network, connection information including phone number, mobile operator or ISP, language and time zone, and IP, device operations information, and identifiers like device identifiers (including identifiers unique to Facebook Company Products associated with the same device or account).
  
      Location Information. We collect device location information if you use our location features, like when you choose to share your location with your contacts, view locations nearby or those others have shared with you, and the like, and for diagnostics and troubleshooting purposes such as if you are having trouble with our app's location features. We use various technologies to determine location, including IP, GPS, Bluetooth signals, and information about nearby Wi-Fi access points, beacons, and cell towers.
  
      Cookies. We use cookies to operate and provide our Services, including to provide our Services that are web-based, improve your experiences, understand how our Services are being used, and customize our Services. For example, we use cookies to provide WhatsApp for web and desktop and other web-based services. We may also use cookies to understand which of our FAQs are most popular and to show you relevant content related to our Services. Additionally, we may use cookies to remember your choices, like your language preferences, to provide a safer experience, and otherwise to customize our Services for you. Learn more about how we use cookies to provide you our Services."[/i]
  

So they retain all knowledge of where and when you were in the real world when you sent every message, they can probably see all the links you might share via whatsapp using the share function (not if you type the address manually into a message) as it may be captured in diagnostics.  All your pics and other media are "outside" the message so again perhaps exposed and therefore the property of FB long enough to be analysed.  FB cookies are everywhere so they'll be able to see your electronic footprints pre and post you sending WA messages.

And then in the T&Cs there's this:
"Your License To WhatsApp. In order to operate and provide our Services, you grant WhatsApp a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, display, and perform the information (including the content) that you upload, submit, store, send, or receive on or through our Services. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating and providing our Services (such as to allow us to display your profile picture and status message, transmit your messages, store your undelivered messages on our servers for up to 30 days as we try to deliver them, and otherwise as described in our Privacy Policy)."

Now perhaps a lawyer or a hundred failed to do their due diligence in drafting the terms or...

If WA/FB haven't got your messages and attachments aka "creations" then why would they want to retain all the rights to them rather than temporary permission to process them through the comms service before destroying all trace after delivery to the intended device/client?

Folds tin foil hat neatly and puts it back in drawer.

[LLPunting]

If you don’t have your name or number linked to a Facebook account then this means nowt.
A few I know are switching over to one called signal.
I expect it will be a while before a proper whatsapp  alternative is in place though.

The encryption used by WA and Signal stem from the same source, Signal is a pretty matured product and is used by people who have greater cause to want anonymous comms like journos, spies (purportedly including the NSA), whistleblowers, dissidents, political fugitives.   Apparently Edward Snowden's endorsement is something along the lines of "I use it and I'm not dead yet."

Signal does additional encryption and their Privacy Policy simply states they will never use your data which they cannot see because the entire message is encrypted until it is in the possession of the intended recipient.  They don't retain anything as they don't track traffic to improve the connectedness of other internet services you do or don't have an interest in.

[KeenPunter]

Now that facebook are sharing all your whatsapp details to their site..i have decided to delete the app
Is there another good messenger app oyt there i could use..but not kik

Depends where in the world you are or what nationality you are after.  For example if in the Russian sphere then VK is handy

[PunterNumber69]

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, so I wouldn't trust it at all. Facebook is all about gathering data about you and your contacts and selling that data to companies.

[CigarSmoke]

My facebook and whatsapp account are independent from each other. I don't have facebook app on my phone. I use a web browser, the old fashioned way. Or use my computer for facebook. I used one email account for my Android phone to download and use whatsapp and another email account to log in Facebook. Facebook shouldn't pour whatever private stuff mentioned in any of my whatsapp conversations onto my facebook account and vice versa.

[Gordon Bennett]

My facebook and whatsapp account are independent from each other. I don't have facebook app on my phone. I use a web browser, the old fashioned way. Or use my computer for facebook. I used one email account for my Android phone to download and use whatsapp and another email account to log in Facebook. Facebook shouldn't pour whatever private stuff mentioned in any of my whatsapp conversations onto my facebook account and vice versa.

Yes. Entirely viable to use all these apps without issues. I have all of the social media apps on my punting phone which is obviously 100% separate from my real identity so there is no issue whatsoever with privacy. I'm in the throes of teeing up my first booking for over a year. One lady prefers WhatsApp the other KIK and I can happily go along with that plus they both seem to like trying to entice me with sundry saucy snaps they send. I accept that these social media apps  share stuff like contacts and this means one of these ladies has popped up as a suggested contact in my punting phone's Facebook and Instagram. Now I have no qualms about having a peek at these profiles of her (they are public not private profiles) and seeing additional stuff about her to give me confidence in the veracity of her escorting profile/photos.
I suppose this means the problem or issue that some punters have with social media and messaging apps is occasionally an advantage or positive for me.

[LLPunting]

Yes. Entirely viable to use all these apps without issues. I have all of the social media apps on my punting phone which is obviously 100% separate from my real identity so there is no issue whatsoever with privacy. I'm in the throes of teeing up my first booking for over a year. One lady prefers WhatsApp the other KIK and I can happily go along with that plus they both seem to like trying to entice me with sundry saucy snaps they send. I accept that these social media apps  share stuff like contacts and this means one of these ladies has popped up as a suggested contact in my punting phone's Facebook and Instagram. Now I have no qualms about having a peek at these profiles of her (they are public not private profiles) and seeing additional stuff about her to give me confidence in the veracity of her escorting profile/photos.
I suppose this means the problem or issue that some punters have with social media and messaging apps is occasionally an advantage or positive for me.

Provided you power down your punting phone, only turn it on for comms and disable all location tracking, bluetooth, sound, microphone access to apps then you may well steer clear of your punting phone being connected to your "real" life but tracking and inference of coincidence and common traits is the raison d'etre of the sm and hundreds of "advertising" firms used by sites (take a look at the lists next time you get asked by a site about using cookies).  Best if your real phone is never on in the same vicinity (mobile cell) when you activate your punting phone.
As your experience shows, you can exploit this unwary crossing-over by finding out more than expected about the ladies you charm.

[Trex]

I’m on Signal but nobody isn’t using it. I don’t have Fakebook, I’m still using WhatsApp at the moment and made it private if I don’t add them on my contact list.

[Chorley]

I don't use messenger apps but if you are interested in video calls only i would recommend Google Duo.

Isn't that notorious as being used by scammers? 

[kippydon]

have you tried telegram

[Gordon Bennett]

Dunno if this is any use but I managed to install WhatsApp on my geriatric Aunt's Android tablet which doesn't have a SIM.

I set her up as a business user (her real name but bogus profession) quoting her landline. Obviously she can't receive their initialising text code so an automated service rang her landline with the confirmation code. She's now fully up and running on WhatsApp on her tablet. Didn't seem to want to work doing it as a private individual so hence why I went the business user root (which is totally free).

It strikes me that a punter could use a bogus name and a phone box to get WhatsApp set-up entirely anonymously on a tablet.

[JimmySW]

I'm an iPhone user and have a cloud sim on my phone with "Another Number", I downloaded WA business and used the cloud sim number, I therefore have two separate WhatsApp number on the same phone.