WhatsApp

How Can Humanitarian Organisations Support Crisis-affected Communities Online? [Bread&Net 2020 Session]

Events April 16, 2021

In this #BreadandNet 2020 session, Sacha Robehmed from International Rescue Committee (IRC) discusses the role of online platforms in connecting organizations to individuals, while maintaining online privacy and security.  COVID-19 forced many humanitarian organizations to rapidly adopt digital tools like Whatsapp to share information with crisis-affected populations, and to deliver services like education, health information, …

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A New (Non-)Privacy Policy from WhatsApp? [A comparison between messaging applications]

News, Resources January 11, 2021

Tech and media companies are exploiting free, popular apps to increase their access to  personal data; and WhatsApp has just followed suit. The app has been sending notifications about an odd update to its privacy policy. The latest policy grants Whatsapp permission to share users’ data with its parent company, Facebook—as well as its subsidiaries. …

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How Israeli Company NSO Hacked My Phone

News December 22, 2020

Almost a year ago, on October 29, I received a WhatsApp notification informing me that Israeli spyware Pegasus had hacked my phone. I had expected them to tap my phone calls—I was enduring increased security harassment at that time—but I never thought they would use such spyware, especially with WhatsApp’s claims of end-to-end encryption. On …

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One Year After October 17 Uprising in Lebanon: Summons and Arrests for Online Speech Increase

News, Resources November 13, 2020

One Year Since the October 17 Uprising in Lebanon: Summons and Arrests for Online Speech It’s been one year since the October 17 uprising in Lebanon, which was ignited over the imposition of a “WhatsApp tax.” During this time, Lebanon witnessed an increase in summons and arrests resulting from online speech with a  greater variety …

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Press Release: Beware of Unverified WhatsApp Applications

2 Comments News January 16, 2020

Many websites and hyperlinks to unverified WhatsApp applications–marketed as “WhatsApp Plus” and promising its users additional features for free–are being shared widely on Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media. SMEX (smex.org), an organization whose mission is to spread digital awareness and understanding of digital rights, warns that these applications have access to all your data …

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Lebanese WhatsApp Users Report Their Accounts Have Been Compromised

1 Comment News August 27, 2020

According to a statement from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF), several WhatsApp users have complained that their accounts have been hacked and their information stolen by unknown parties who managed to exploit SMS activation codes sent by the company to users’ phones via SMS. These unknown parties are scamming WhatsApp users by taking advantage …

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