WhatsApp & crapface

[husoi]

Due to announced changes to privacy in WhatsApp and the links to crapface I'm now moving to telegram and signal.

I always defended that "If you don't want it to be public don't put it in the internet." and still comply with this.

But times are changing and I have no patience for this

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56127220

 

[manxie49]

I am part of a WhatsApp group, a friend set the group up so we could send out a message for anyone wanting to go for a ride out, it seems pretty good.  I'm certainly no tech expert and I don't profess to fully understand what's going on on with these groups and how it would affect me, however, I empathise with peoples concerns about how much personal information these organisations gather and share without the user ever being aware.  IMHO that mass covert monitoring and sharing of someones information, whether it be for marketing or more nefarious reasons, is wrong, but as you say, times are changing and this is now the world we live in, the only way we would ever stop it, and claim back control of our data is to live off grid, completely, end up on one of those Ben Fogle programmes, lol.

[Steve_M]

46 minutes ago, husoi said:

Due to announced changes to privacy in WhatsApp and the links to crapface I'm now moving to telegram and signal.

I always defended that "If you don't want it to be public don't put it in the internet." and still comply with this.

But times are changing and I have no patience for this

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56127220

 

I take it you don’t use Google. 

[husoi]

Just now, Steve_M said:

I take it you don’t use Google. 

Google with limited information on my android account

as a search engine, no. duckduckgo.com since they started  

have 4 email accounts (personal non work related) google one just for the phone, 2 yahoo accounts (very old ones) and hotmail for all the rubbish I want to try and then will either give up or move it to my yahoo main account.

Only use chrome on work laptop as it is set by company policy.

Opera on personal laptop and duckduckgo app on phone

[dynax]

2 minutes ago, husoi said:

Google with limited information on my android account

as a search engine, no. duckduckgo.com since they started  

have 4 email accounts (personal non work related) google one just for the phone, 2 yahoo accounts (very old ones) and hotmail for all the rubbish I want to try and then will either give up or move it to my yahoo main account.

Only use chrome on work laptop as it is set by company policy.

Opera on personal laptop and duckduckgo app on phone

 

I also use Duckduckgo, also use Tor to check out any suspicious looking links

[manxie49]

You don't seem to have to even use Google for it to be sticking its nose in ...... my anti virus software monitors page by page trackers and virtually every page I go on shows up "Google analytics" as an active tracker.  I also use Duckduckgo,  moreso because it's my wife's computer and that's what she has set up.  

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I was advised by a senior police officer only to ever use DuckDuckGo for browsing. It saves Triumph owners constantly receiving adverts for bras.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

What is this DuckDuckGo? Last April my husband managed to leave the tip of a cotton bud down deep in is lughole, not wanting to go to A&E at peak infection time I googled for the paraphernalia to fish it out. Now almost a year later I still open safari to be bombarded with lumps of ear wax. It’s gross. So will duckduckgo stop this?

[S-Westerly]

12 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

What is this DuckDuckGo? Last April my husband managed to leave the tip of a cotton bud down deep in is lughole, not wanting to go to A&E at peak infection time I googled for the paraphernalia to fish it out. Now almost a year later I still open safari to be bombarded with lumps of ear wax. It’s gross. So will duckduckgo stop this?

The reason my audiologist told me never to stick anything down my ears. Having serious wax problems have also made the mistake of googling for "how to clear it" (short answer you can't). The consequences are as you say gross!

[S-Westerly]

1 hour ago, husoi said:

Due to announced changes to privacy in WhatsApp and the links to crapface I'm now moving to telegram and signal.

I always defended that "If you don't want it to be public don't put it in the internet." and still comply with this.

But times are changing and I have no patience for this

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56127220

 

To be honest I really don't care. Government  has completely shut down my life by decree. When anybody can find something in it to be excited about please let me know! 

[husoi]

15 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

What is this DuckDuckGo? Last April my husband managed to leave the tip of a cotton bud down deep in is lughole, not wanting to go to A&E at peak infection time I googled for the paraphernalia to fish it out. Now almost a year later I still open safari to be bombarded with lumps of ear wax. It’s gross. So will duckduckgo stop this?

www.duckduckgo.com is a search engine like yahoo and google but it doesn't install 3bn cookies to track your activity and display advertising based on your browsing history.

to clear your ears the oldest and best way is to put a couple drops of virgin olive oil wait a couple hours then wash it. The olive oil will dissolve the earwax making it coming out.

[husoi]

1 minute ago, S-Westerly said:

To be honest I really don't care. Government  has completely shut down my life by decree. When anybody can find something in it to be excited about please let me know! 

I wake up alive every morning, that is a plus...

Have a job, a roof over my head and other than old age and arthritis I don't have any issues.

I don't get depressed with what I don't have and always grateful for what I have  

[S-Westerly]

Just now, husoi said:

www.duckduckgo.com is a search engine like yahoo and google but it doesn't install 3bn cookies to track your activity and display advertising based on your browsing history.

to clear your ears the oldest and best way is to put a couple drops of virgin olive oil wait a couple hours then wash it. The olive oil will dissolve the earwax making it coming out.

Tried it, repeatedly. Apart from making a horrid mess on my collars or pillow it didn't have any effect at all. I had mine vacuumed last week after a week of olive oiling and what came out was about 1 cm3 from each ear of a tarry glop. Took a lot of hot water irrigating first as well.

[husoi]

Just now, S-Westerly said:

Tried it, repeatedly. Apart from making a horrid mess on my collars or pillow it didn't have any effect at all. I had mine vacuumed last week after a week of olive oiling and what came out was about 1 cm3 from each ear of a tarry glop. Took a lot of hot water irrigating first as well.

This is my own process to remove earwax.

IT IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION AND I AM IN NO WAY SUGGESTING ANYBODY TO DO IT!!!!

 

I use 1 (clean) toilet tissue folded in half and then rolled like a cigarette and use it to clean the outer ear canal. With experience I found out the best thickness so it doesn't go too far and cleans properly (to an extend).

for the inner canal I use the shower head with warm water, similar process to audiologist and once you get the hang of it you will be removing the stubborn wax.

You must not try to get it 100% clean as it will be bad for your health, earwax is there for a purpose and remove it all is not a good idea.

 

Again.

 

THIS IS NOT A SUGGESGTION!!!! 

[S-Westerly]

I've tried all these and to a degree it works. However apparently my ear canals are odd so they've a kind of kink in them that stops wax from doing what it should do and also causes it to get jammed up. It also prevents me from scuba diving.  Any depth more than about 4 metres I cannot clear my ears.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

7 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

The reason my audiologist told me never to stick anything down my ears. Having serious wax problems have also made the mistake of googling for "how to clear it" (short answer you can't). The consequences are as you say gross!

Yes well good luck to anyone trying to persuade my other half not to scratch his ears It’s a frightening sight and no surprise the cotton bud tip came off! I agree completely with your audiologist, wouldn’t recommend anyone shoving things down their ears but if you happen to have done a brief stint ear syringing as a community nurse and have an auroscope then you can get away with a certain amount of liberties removing oomska.

 

But back on topic. I like signal more than whatsapp just because it works across devices so when I haven’t looked at my phone for days I don’t get stroppy messages from people who think I’m ignoring them!

[manxie49]

I got this info from someone who works in I.T. although I don't do it because I don't really know WTF I'm doing, it's also my wife's computer and I couldn't live with the fallout if it all went wrong, lol ...... To help reduce and stop the bombardment of ad's and pop ups regularly clear your cache of cookies, install a pop up blocker, and, if you bank online especially, use a VPN to encrypt data (Don't ask me what a VPN does though) 

[husoi]

6 minutes ago, manxie49 said:

I got this info from someone who works in I.T. although I don't do it because I don't really know WTF I'm doing, it's also my wife's computer and I couldn't live with the fallout if it all went wrong, lol ...... To help reduce and stop the bombardment of ad's and pop ups regularly clear your cache of cookies, install a pop up blocker, and, if you bank online especially, use a VPN to encrypt data (Don't ask me what a VPN does though) 

Duckduckgo does exactly all of that except the VPN (although there is an option for it).

 

VPN is another way people found for extorsion. Why would you want to connect to a server that you have no idea who is running it?

Unless you setup your own VPN (Virtual Private Network) and you make sure it is bulletproof to hackers (good luck with that) you are just changing the thieves from free robbery to subscription robbery.

 

Cookies cleaning along with browsing history, is something everyone should do on a regular basis and it takes little time.

Finally, Opera browser (like chrome or IE) have by default one of the best ads blocker and it will always ask if you want to give permission to a site for tracking location, showing notifications, etc.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

28 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

I've tried all these and to a degree it works. However apparently my ear canals are odd so they've a kind of kink in them that stops wax from doing what it should do and also causes it to get jammed up. It also prevents me from scuba diving.  Any depth more than about 4 metres I cannot clear my ears.

When I was a kid I was in hospital most years having ear grommets fitted to prevent glue ear. It left me unable to dive underwater due to pressure issues and I strongly suspect it's the reason I've suffered with tinnitus as long as I can remember. It must have also left the eardrum fragile as the one time I had my ears syringed they burst which was unbelievably painful.

[S-Westerly]

Yep, I've got the tinnitus as well. Though I never have burst an eardrum. I've regularly had my ears syringed / vacuumed without any issues but the amount of gunk that emerges is amazing.

[Bender]

Hope you've not got smart meters too then cause from that data they can pretty much work out what your watching when your on holiday and when your out  

 

Who would have thought collecting data every half hour could yield so much info, now who are they going to sell that too.

[Bender]

Just read through it and tbh it's of no concern.

 

WhatsApp already shares information with Facebook, such as your IP address and information about your phone, as well as purchases made via the platform.

However this does not apply in Europe and the UK, where different privacy laws exist.

 

 

Google, Amazon are both way more intrusive than that.

[dynax]

4 minutes ago, Bender said:

Just read through it and tbh it's of no concern.

 

WhatsApp already shares information with Facebook, such as your IP address and information about your phone, as well as purchases made via the platform.

However this does not apply in Europe and the UK, where different privacy laws exist.

 

 

Google, Amazon are both way more intrusive than that.

 

This is why I like using Tor for most of my searches as it creates relays and never has the same IP on start up

[Steve_M]

Interesting article. The change your Google settings link embedded in the article is handy

 

I just want to find the setting which stops the YouTube adverts for finance headed by Farage. Like I’d trust his opinion. 

[husoi]

2 minutes ago, Steve_M said:

Interesting article. The change your Google settings link embedded in the article is handy

 

I just want to find the setting which stops the YouTube adverts for finance headed by Farage. Like I’d trust his opinion. 

Opera browser reduces adverts substantially.

You end up with a blank page and a "skip ad" button