RE: fosstodon.org/@arcanechat/1157…

#ArcaneChat doesn't have delivery receipts, only read receipts, the only automatic responses the app does in your behalf is to handle invite links, for that to be abused you first have to share your invite link with a malicious contact, you can get in contact with random/public entity via their invite link and be safe, as long as it is not you the one sharing your invite link!

In #Signal / #WhatsApp as soon as you contact someone or they guess your number you are vulnerable

ArcaneChat

2025-12-14 09:39:00

"Tool allows stealthy tracking of #Signal and #WhatsApp users through delivery receipts"

cyberinsider.com/tool-allows-s…

Another privacy vulnerability caused by the dependency on phone numbers.

In #ArcaneChat (and other #chatmail clients like #DeltaChat) you don't need a phone number (or any private data at all!) to register, so such attacks are simply impossible, keep your family safe, join arcanechat.me

Tool allows stealthy tracking of Signal and WhatsApp users through delivery receipts

A new tool named Device Activity Tracker exposes a privacy flaw in WhatsApp and Signal that lets attackers covertly monitor user activity.

^{Alex Lekander (CyberInsider)}

"Tool allows stealthy tracking of #Signal and #WhatsApp users through delivery receipts"

cyberinsider.com/tool-allows-s…

Another privacy vulnerability caused by the dependency on phone numbers.

In #ArcaneChat (and other #chatmail clients like #DeltaChat) you don't need a phone number (or any private data at all!) to register, so such attacks are simply impossible, keep your family safe, join arcanechat.me

Tool allows stealthy tracking of Signal and WhatsApp users through delivery receipts

A new tool named Device Activity Tracker exposes a privacy flaw in WhatsApp and Signal that lets attackers covertly monitor user activity.

^{Alex Lekander (CyberInsider)}

@ambiguous_yelp that was just an example, and ofc everything can be improved :)

currently I don't see SimpleX as a serious alternative to #WhatsApp I could recommend to my mom

@ambiguous_yelp

> SimpleX is also decentralised with multi-profile

but it doesn't have proper multi-device support besides the UI is pretty bad, not user friendly, not on the level of mainstream apps like #WhatsApp or #Telegram, see this #SimpleX screenshot for example

DMA crackdown for the win! 🙌 #WhatsApp is becoming interoperable in the EU

What does this mean?

✅ WhatsApp users in the EU can message people on other apps
✅ More #freedom for you
✅ Better chances to compete for smaller apps

➡️ Find out more here: tuta.com/blog/whatsapp-interop…

První výsledky rozsáhlého výzkumu online bezpečnosti dětí. Zapojilo se do něj více než 53 000 žáků základních a středních škol v čr, převážně věk 13 až 17 let.

- 7 % žáků uvedlo, že někdo zneužil #AI k vytvoření jejich svlečené fotografie

- vyučující často doporučují #WhatsApp k instalaci i žákům z 1. stupně zš

- ubližuje se především v chatovacích skupinách typu třída-parta na WhatsAppu

- nejčastějším útočníkem spolužák ze třídy

bezpecnyinternet.cz/

#cznic #jsns #upol #linkabezpeci

Chat Control is back, but slightly changed:

❌ No backdoor of encryption
❌ No forced scanning
🚨 But: Age verification (no anonymity)

The update just quietly passed in the EU Council & now needs to be discussed with the EU Parliament.

👁️Big Techs like #Gmail and #WhatsApp will continue to scan your data.

Will you keep fighting against #ChatControl?

Blocking the WhatsApp messenger in Russia is "only a matter of time," said Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy and a member of United Russia.

moscowtimes.ru/2025/11/26/vopr…

#Ukraine #Russia #Whatsapp

«Вопрос времени». В Госдуме предупредили о неизбежной блокировке WhatsApp

Блокировка мессенджера WhatsApp в России является «лишь вопросом времени», заявил член комитета Госдумы по информационной политике, единоросс Антон Немкин.

^{Русская служба The Moscow Times}

Meta pitching app store age verification law to Canadian government

Me: No, no and especially not in the hands of a foreign entity

toronto.citynews.ca/2025/11/25…
- - -
Meta promouvoit une loi sur la vérification des âges par les App Store au gouvernement canadien

Moi: non, non et surtout pas entre les mains d’une entité étrangère

lactualite.com/actualites/meta…

#Meta #Canada #CANpoli #CDNpoli #Facebook #Instagram #WhatsApp

Meta pitching app store age verification law to Liberal government

OTTAWA — Meta has been lobbying the federal government for new rules to implement age verification at the app store level — which would put the burden on companies like Apple and Google, not individual platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.

^{News Staff (CityNews Toronto)}

🚨 3.5 billion users: Entire WhatsApp directory publicly accessible

Source: theregister.com/2025/11/19/wha…

Here are our best #WhatsApp alternatives: tuta.com/blog/best-whatsapp-al…

Conclusion: Choose #Signal

Researchers claim 'largest leak ever' after uncovering WhatsApp enumeration flaw

: Two-day exploit opened up 3.5 billion users to myriad potential harms

^{Connor Jones (The Register)}

What the actual f...k? How does a multibillion dollar company like #Meta not mitigate against this kind of historic data leak???

"3.5 Billion Accounts: Complete #WhatsApp Directory Retrieved and Evaluated"
heise.de/en/news/3-5-Billion-A…

#DigitalRights #privacy #DataProtection #DigitalSecurity

3.5 Billion Accounts: Complete WhatsApp Directory Retrieved and Evaluated

Vienna researchers retrieved all WhatsApp numbers. The 3.5 billion profiles represent the largest data leak in history—and it's worse than you might think.

^{Daniel AJ Sokolov (heise online)}

A surprising amount can be read from the data, and for some users, it can be life-threatening.

The entire WhatsApp profile database (including correlatable phone numbers and face photos) leaked.

heise.de/en/news/3-5-Billion-A…

#Privacy #WhatsApp #Databreach

3.5 Billion Accounts: Complete WhatsApp Directory Retrieved and Evaluated

Vienna researchers retrieved all WhatsApp numbers. The 3.5 billion profiles represent the largest data leak in history—and it's worse than you might think.

^{Daniel AJ Sokolov (heise online)}

No, there was no leaked database of 3.5B #WhatsApp users. Researchers from Vienna simply used the contact discovery method with all possible phone numbers to get contact data of 3.5B users. They informed WhatsApp who kinda fixed it by setting rate limits for contact discovery and the researchers deleted their collected data. Read the paper instead of clickbait :)

github.com/sbaresearch/whatsap…

whatsapp-census/Hey_there_You_are_using_WhatsApp.pdf at main · sbaresearch/whatsapp-census

Contribute to sbaresearch/whatsapp-census development by creating an account on GitHub.

^GitHub

Wow, Vienna scientists received the complete WhatsApp member directory, containing 3.5 billion user entries. Yes, it’s just the directory, no messages, but the whole directory was available online - totally unprotected.

Any more reasons for not using WhatsApp required

#whatsapp #dataleak #privacy

heise.de/en/news/3-5-Billion-A…

3.5 Billion Accounts: Complete WhatsApp Directory Retrieved and Evaluated

Vienna researchers retrieved all WhatsApp numbers. The 3.5 billion profiles represent the largest data leak in history—and it's worse than you might think.

^{Daniel AJ Sokolov (heise online)}

"WhatsApp flaw allowed researchers to scrape data of 3.5 billion users"

Things that can never happen in #ArcaneChat since there is no phone number or any personal data required

cyberinsider.com/whatsapp-flaw…

#meta #WhatsApp #privacy

WhatsApp flaw allowed researchers to scrape data of 3.5 billion users

Researchers uncovered a flaw in WhatsApp's contact discovery mechanism, allowing them to enumerate over 3.5 billion active accounts.

^{Alex Lekander (CyberInsider)}

Hey, did you know that Movim allows you to link your #Discord, #Telegram, #WhatsApp and #Matrix accounts to your main XMPP one and chat with all your contacts in one integrated platform? 🤩

We are working hard with @nicoco to ensure a perfect integration with the Slidge gateways project slidge.im/ 🥸🤝🥸

Message synchronization, reactions, stickers, GIFs, chatrooms, invitations, file transfer... you can now find all those exciting features fully working across all your linked accounts in Movim ✨.

Now you can move to #XMPP while staying in contact with all your friends. 👌

Try it out on mov.im/ or by deploying your own instance 😸!

@TheDailyBurble, happy to help.

Another cool feature of #XMPP are "gateways" that make it relatively easy to connect with other IMs.
e.g.
#Libervia to #ActivityPub and #email (CC @Goffi )

nlnet.nl/project/Libervia
libervia.org

#Slidge to all sorts of other IM like #Matrix, #Mattermost, #Steam, #Discord, #Whatsapp, FB … (CC @nicoco )

slidge.im

@pedrosanta @bagder @matrix

What a timing: while I'm sitting at a #CloudAbolition workshop, #AWS takes down major centralised services like #Signal, #WhatsApp and #Teams.

People continue happily texting me on @matrix though 💚

🇷🇺 Russia wants China's Great Firewall

After Tuta Mail, it's now also blocking #Signal & #WhatsApp to stop its citizens from using #encryption

Together with @torproject, @fightforfuture and others we are standing up to say: Stop! ✊

Everyone deserves #privacy.

Read our open letter: 👉 tuta.com/blog/tutanota-blocked…

Everyone is now realizing that WhatsApp is evolving towards its latest form (archive.md/L3W74). If you value secure messaging, you may want to check out @signalapp or @matrix (wich is #federated). EPFL also has its own Matrix instance at matrix.epfl.ch (use @element as a client).

#SecureMessaging #WhatsApp #WhatsappAlternative #Signal #Matrix #Element #Privacy #SelfHosted

🚨 WARNING: Google is trying to force you into using #Gemini AI on Android in #Gmail, #WhatsApp & other apps - hijacking your data for "AI training"

This is opted in by default – so check your Settings to opt out.

Here’s how: 👉 tuta.com/blog/how-to-disable-g…

🚨 WhatsApp is getting ADs 🚨

First #MetaAI in your messenger & now #ADs. 🫣

But will it stop there? Probably not!

Find out more here 👉 tuta.com/blog/how-to-turn-off-…

#WhatsApp #WhatsAppAds

Aunque el objetivo del vídeo es dejar a #WhatsApp en evidencia, también otorgo una parte no-despreciable del vídeo a #Signal, como la gran alternativa.

También nombro a #XMPP (vivo amenazado por la furia de @kyva), PERO:
Signal es el único "quita-y-pon" 🧩 que tenemos ahora mismo, para seguir conversando con **nuestros contactos telefónicos**, sin tener que ir preguntando a todo quisqui por su dirección.

Que ya los iremos metiendo en el saco federado, pero tú estate en Signal mientrastanto. 😉

Hice un vídeo para que puedas enviárselo a tus personas cercanas, explicando lo fácil que es dejar #WhatsApp, y por qué es importante hacerlo. 💬

fediverse.tv/w/35Lvufq1XW8ZVBT… (@ivangj@fediverse.tv)
También disponible en YouTube por si quieres evitar rozamientos 😅.

#SoftwareLibre #PeerTube #Chat #Signal #XMPP #DeltaChat #Matrix

Is #WhatsApp introducing #ads the last straw for you?

noyb.eu/en/whatsapp-getting-ad…

Consider using #Prav instead, which is:

🗳️ community-driven, so you can push for features you like, and, more importantly, vote against changes you dislike!
🆓 freedom-respecting, so you can fork the code to make things work the way you want
standards-based, using the #XMPP protocol
🌐 part of the federated #Jabber network, so you can switch apps and instances without having to drag everyone else along with you!

#deltachat is secure against server-side group membership changes but for a very different reason than #signal which keeps encrypted group membership data in a central store.

Delta Chat has _no_ central store but implements a rigidly tested #p2p group membership model where servers play no role github.com/chatmail/models/tre…

Both signal and delta chat are safe against recently published attacks against #whatsapp that can add members to chats, breaking end to end encryption. arstechnica.com/security/2025/…

WhatsApp provides no cryptographic management for group messages

The weakness creates the possibility of an insider or hacker adding rogue members.

^{Dan Goodin (Ars Technica)}

We asked, you answered! Here's Tuta's updated list of best #WhatsApp alternatives in 2025 👏

Which one is your favorite? 🤔Do comment below - or check out our detailed review first! 👉tuta.com/blog/best-whatsapp-al…

#PrivacyMatters

FBI Warning on Messaging Apps: Time to Rethink What "Secure" Really Means

The FBI recently urged Americans to switch from SMS to encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal.

Read More at: puri.sm/posts/fbi-raises-alarm…

#Cybersecurity #Privacy #Surveillance #Signal #WhatsApp

FBI Raises Alarm on Encrypted Messaging Apps: A New Front in the Battle for Digital Privacy and National Security – Purism

Purism makes premium phones, laptops, mini PCs and servers running free software on PureOS. Purism products respect people's privacy and freedom while protecting their security.

^{Purism SPC}

Noticed #MetaAI is now in #WhatsApp? 🫣 If this concerns you, you're not alone 💛

In our latest guide, we look at how you can get rid of Meta AI 👉 tuta.com/blog/how-to-turn-off-…

Meta is collecting your #WhatsApp metadata 👉 Protect your communications with these European alternatives to WhatsApp!

WhatsApp shares:

✅ Your location
✅ Your device
✅ Who you're writing
✅ When you write them
✅ How often you write them
✅ Whether they reply

Are you already using one of these #PrivateMessengers?🔒