We would like to endorse what @kuketzblog writes about the inclusion of an “AI assistant” into an instant messenger that is still widely used:

It is unfortunate that many journalists do not realise how dangerous the new AI in WhatsApp really is. Der Spiegel, for example, writes in a recent article: “Meta AI does not have access to users' private chats, however, thanks to end-to-end encryption.” As a matter of fact, the AI does have access as it is used in the context of private chats or group chats. Sadly, this misinformation lulls users into a false sense of security. 🤦

Source (in German): https://social.tchncs.de/@kuketzblog/114267998218207258

#whatsapp #ai #e2ee #dontcallitai #genai #privacy

Mike Kuketz 🛡 (@[email protected])

Es ist bedauerlich, dass viele Journalisten nicht erkennen, wie gefährlich die neue KI in WhatsApp wirklich ist. Der Spiegel schreibt bspw. in einem aktuellen Beitrag: »Zugriff auf Privatchats von Usern hat Meta AI jedoch nicht, dank der Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlüsselung.« Dabei hat die KI durchaus Zugriff, wenn sie im Kontext privater Chats oder Gruppenchats verwendet wird. So verbreiten sich leider Falschinformationen, die Nutzer in falscher Sicherheit wiegen. 🤦

Mastodon
Here are some good alternatives to WhatsApp: https://switching.software/replace/whatsapp/
Bye, Whatsapp

Recommended Instant Messengers:

switching.software
@switchingsoftware Just had a look through your list, a few I'm trying out there, thank you! One suggestion for a category though - you have a "Microsoft Office / Office Suites" category, which is great (You list Libre Office, but not Open Office, which is also open source? https://www.openoffice.org/ ) - it would be good to have "word processors" and "Email clients" as their own categories. I found https://www.reddit.com/r/opensource/comments/zne3lv/what_lightweight_opensource_word_processor_task/?rdt=44920 with some word processor suggestions and https://www.reddit.com/r/opensource/comments/1100rlu/best_opensource_email_client/ for email clients - they were the two categories I was really interested in exploring options for.
Apache OpenOffice - Official Site - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

The official home page of the Apache OpenOffice open source project, home of OpenOffice Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw and Base.

switching.software (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Yes. OpenOffice has been neglected by developers in recent years. It has become a security risk. Switching to LibreOffice is not much effort and low risk. @[email protected]

Fedifreude
@switchingsoftware Thank you! I have had Libre Office installed for ages, but hadn't used open office in ages, I just remembered it as being an option. Good to be updated on that, thank you!
@switchingsoftware is the website down? 

@sammypanda

At this moment, our website is online. It is served by Codeberg Pages. As you can see on Codeberg's status page, this service has been offline occasionally: https://status.codeberg.eu/status/codeberg
As far as we have heard, reasons include mindless “AI” crawlers, DDoS attacks and growing pains.

Codeberg Service Status

This is an overview of the Codeberg Infrastructure. Uptime stats are calculated over the past 24 hours only. <a href=https://social.anoxinon.de/@codeber

Just using whatsapp is a dangerous mistake. Meta should not be relied on for private communication
@regrub @switchingsoftware Somebody needs to tell Europe please. It's the only reason I have it at all.
@switchingsoftware @kuketzblog yes - and because Meta has control of the (proprietary) client software at both ends of the E2EE conversation, there's no way to know for sure they're not 'processing' the actual content (not just the metadata) people are transmitting. Best to avoid all things 'Meta'.