m4ri0g WhatsApp is the only Meta (cr)app I'm using.
Is the usage of WhatsApp on GOS more secure in because of privacy?
DeletedUser127 I want to give meta as little useful information as possible.
Whatsapp currently only has access to my contacts. No access to files, photos, micro or camera.
I also use an always on VPN.
I understand that avoiding metadata does not seem possible. But I want to reduce them to a minimum.
TGOS have you given it access to any contacts at all? That would already most likely deanonymize you. When I used WA back in the day, I made sure not to give it any access to contacts. Just wrote to numbers and remembered who it is by chat content.
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?
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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.
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.
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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.
ottoptj most of the time this is battery optimization related.
DeletedUser127 not necessarily. I have battery optimisation set to unrestricted but would still miss the occasional call.
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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?
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?
DeletedUser127 Nope. Having it on unrestricted doesn't change anything.
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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.