Recently a senior Privacy Pro from Bangalore posted in a professional group posted this message…
“Is.Byjus reading our WhatsApp messages?
I enquired about tuitions to my 7th standard son in a WhatsApp group and within 5 mins I got a call from Byjus!!!”
I also observed that after I listened to my own video on Youtube on Section 65B immediately thereafter the next video suggestion by YouTune was a video on Advaita by a Swami Tatvananda of Ramakrishna Mission. …perhaps because the video had alluded to “Body” and “Soul” and liking the data in a hard disk to soul in a body.
Both the above incidents indicate that the content in WhatsApp or Youtube video used by the user was observed by WhatsApp and Google respectively and used for further promotion. My video was also played on a mobile and hence it could be Google reading the content through android.
If private conversation in a WhatsApp group becomes known to Baiju a commercial entity, then it is clear that there is no privacy in the use of WhatsApp which claims to use “End to End Encryption”. It is clear that WhatsApp reads every message and an AI algorithm flags any marketing opportunity and reports it to the back end system which perhaps provides a subscription based advertising service either through Google Ads or FaceBook Ads and informs the ad information subscribers to push their marketing efforts.
We can therefore conclude that use of “WhatsApp Messaging” for business transactions is a risk to the business information. If a company is using WhatsApp for communicating with its sales force and a sales person reports, “I just met a prospective client who is interested in our product. We can pursue this lead….” , next moment a competitor may be at the doors of your prospective client to deliver a similar product and steal your lead.
Similarly in a hospital communication, if one doctor is sharing some diagnostic discussion with another doctor on a patient’s condition, it is possible that an insurance company may be lifting the information to alter the insurance terms or deny a claim.
While Privacy activists may try to tackle this data breach in a different way, one technology company in Bangalore has been working on a secure messaging system for organizations where data is secured through encryption “From creation to Consumption” instead of only from “device exit to device entrance”.
In a discussion with Mr Vinaykrishna, the owner of this Dubai based company with a development center in Bangalore, he indicated that this product is specially meant to replace the use of WhatsApp for business applications where sensitive personal data is transmitted. He indicated that no data is safe with WhatsApp type of messaging services where the data is permitted to be used for commercial purpose and the “End to End Encryption is only a myth. His contention is that his solution permits the server to be in house and the encryption control entirely within the admin of the enterprise.
It would be interesting to explore such solutions which appear to come from niche companies but take on established global brands like Meta.
A full video interview of Mr Vinay Krishna would be made available shortly on this website.
Naavi
Thanks for such an informative post! Please find some more details https://ledgerfi.io/ledgerchat-the-secure-enterprise-messaging-app/