Also remember, communication is bidirectional. So if your party adds you to contacts and does not restrict access to them, this creates another dataset that can aid tracking. In other words, don't only look at your activity, in the real world your privacy very much depends on the objects (people) you interact with.

    DeletedUser127 I think thats the main problem... What does it help when I use Proton Mail and recipient Gmail....

      ryrona never heared about prepaid ready to use simcards withiut your data cinnected to it? Or burner phones? (For account creation) Or am i missing something?

          • TGOS

            • Post #27

            brandy078
            Just ordered new one. But also changing it would make the same.
            Because Vodafone doesn't give Meta your credentials, like whatsapp doesn't get the names in your contacts. So writing them directly or via Contact (scopes) shoudn't be a difference.

              ryrona WhatsApp does not need google services to run. They do affec the notifications, but that's it.

              Also, as far as interaction goes, as far as I understand anyway, their e2e encryption is actually real, so they can't read what you write. However, a lot of metadata is not encrypted, so things like who you message and when are available to them.

                  • TGOS

                    • Post #29

                    DeletedUser88 can you confirm that whatsapp is aware of every other app in a user profile? So no matter from where it is installed from and if G-Services installed?
                    That was actually the reason not installing it in private space for me.

                        TGOS can you confirm that whatsapp is aware of every other app in a user profile?

                        Any app can get a list of all the installed apps within the same user profile. Apps cannot get a list of installed apps in a user profile that it is not in. There is a permission for it (QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES) but it is not needed for as there are other ways apps can do this. It is standard Android behaviour.

                        TGOS So no matter from where it is installed from and if G-Services installed?

                        Refer to the above answer.

                            ottoptj WhatsApp does not need google services to run. They do affec the notifications, but that's it.

                            You can still recieve notifications from WhatsApp without Google Services. However, I have read reports about some reliability issues regarding this.

                                DeletedUser88 Yeah, you can receive them, but it is indeed not very reliable. Sometimes the notification happens, other times not.

                                    DeletedUser127 not necessarily. I have battery optimisation set to unrestricted but would still miss the occasional call.

                                      PetertheMeter I ordered mine from a store in the Netherlands. The sim is registered there.

                                        Is it possible to isolate WhatsApp in a user profile and receive notifications from WA in my main profile?

                                        • TGOS replied to this.

                                          DeletedUser64 which is why i signed up with a sim I disposed of.

                                          does Whatsapp have the ability to poll your hardware if you then have a different sim in later and find out your new phone number?

                                              • TGOS

                                                • Post #39

                                                brandy078 as long as you allow the profile "running in backround" then yes

                                                  Thanks you all for your help!

                                                  For the moment my solution is:
                                                  I put WhatsApp in its own user profile with VPN always on. No play services.
                                                  No permissions except network and using contact scopes.

                                                  I hope this helps a bit.

                                                  Sorry for hijacking your post,

                                                  It is not a conspiracy theory anymore

                                                  www.msn[.]com/en-us/news/politics/it-s-official-cia-can-read-your-whatsapp-messages-meta-owner-zuckerberg-s-shocking-reveal/vi-BB1rhFAp

                                                  The linked video isn't accurate. Other sources say that Zuckerberg said that messages can be read if the device is broken into. No evidence that intelligence agencies have a way to intercept and read WhatsApp messages.

                                                  The link to the video has been broken but not removed so people here can still see what others have been talking about.

                                                    NetRunner88 This is only possible if the CIA has already compromised your device through malware like Pegasus or they gain physical access to the device and bruteforce it.

                                                    WhatsApp's end to end encryption is not compromised however you cannot expect your messages to still be secure if one of the ends are compromised. The same argument applies to Signal and SimpleX.

                                                    This is much less of a concern for the average person than you are making it out to be.

                                                      NetRunner88
                                                      End to end encrypted it states when you start a new chat in WA... More like end to end exploited

                                                      Thanks for the link. I am now deleting my WA account. Either my family use SimpleX, Signal, or its face to face chat.