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A comment on Collecting huge amounts of data with WhatsApp.

Re:Collecting huge amounts of data with WhatsApp by topranks on Friday May 12, 2017 @07:15AM (#14322956)
Seems to me that Whatsapp should be able to rate-limit these requests and work to secure the interface so only the legit website can actually pull the info?

The initial website display comes from a QR code you can on your phone, which the website then gets authorized by. Could they not then limit queries to that account?

I could be way off the mark, but it seems to me like the worst of this could be mitigated quite easily without much loss in functionality for users?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Collecting huge amounts of data with WhatsApp by detstrat on Friday May 12, 2017 @08:49AM (#14323507)
WhatsApp does monitor their network and API calls being performed. This way they ban spammers and fake clients going on the WhatsApp network. I suspect they use some form of Machine learning to filter out the non-users and when you're identified: you're getting banned. This means that you can no longer use your phone number and need a new SIM. So this story isn't feasable for "huge amounts of data". You might be able to download a few 100k of profile picutures but you will get banned.
[ Parent | on HN ]