So yeah I”m not a fan of the new layout, it somehow manages to only render properly at a high resolution, and display farless. “Suprpsingly” the top option on the far right is to “Go back to classic Gmail”.
Out in Hong Kong people are a buzz that Google has a secret deal with Beijing where they are not only going to build a search engine with CCP’s blessing, but they will also be moving people’s data out here into Chinese datacentres.
Then I got this email:
| Due to a new agreement between WhatsApp and Google, WhatsApp backups will no longer count against Google Drive storage quota. However, any WhatsApp backups that have not been updated in more than a year will automatically be removed from storage. This policy will come into effect for all users on 12 November 2018, although some users may see the quota benefits earlier. To avoid the loss of any backups, we recommend that people manually back up WhatsApp before 12 November 2018. |
So WhatsApp is the #1 chat app out in Hong Kong. So now presumably all our chats are going directly to the CCP. Yay.
I can’t say I’m all that surprised, when I logon from Europe or the USA all my data of course goes through the CIA via Canada, or FBI/Interpol.. So there is no escaping any of this, but the reql question is what changed to get these kinds of deals in place.
I donno what to make of any of it.
And yes, it turns out that even if you opt out of the Google tracking, they still track. Does this mean it’s time to actually go back to an abandonded / pay platform like Windows Phone/Office 365?
Speculate wildly!
That Google will offer free space for WhatsApp backups, combine it with the fact that the backups cannot be disabled on the Android version of WhatsApp and that most WhatsApp users on Android will choose Google for storing the backups due to concerns about losing all chats and media when switching phones.
But with all this the end-to-end encryption of the messages is worthless and probably why government intelligence services picking up the bill from Google.
We never get to set the algo or the key.. I’m incredibly suspect of that.
I feel bad enough for carrying around a transponder, especially after they disappeared a couple of people in HK. Not that I’m all that exciting but I don’t like the state of what is going on..
I wonder why as I travel between the UK and US my Android phone usually updates a bunch of apps at either end shortly after I arrive.
That always amazes me. Right in the airport or if I get the in flight WiFi. I never see any change in these apps but it’s amazing how I seemingly need a whole new set of stuff.
It’s all odd.
basic HTML view is even better. : )))
It’s the way it had started.
But I’ve grown far too dependent on Google.