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6 Reasons Why You Should Delete WhatsApp

Marty
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0
6 Reasons Why You Should Delete WhatsApp

This week, I deleted WhatsApp. I don’t just mean I deleted the app either. I went in, deleted my account completely and then nuked the app from my phone. After that I finally went and deleted Facebook too. It’s been on my list of things to do for some time, or at least deleting Facebook was. The urge to delete WhatsApp is a more recent phenomenon so I figured I should pull together the top six reasons I decided to delete WhatsApp.

This is not intended to be a preachy “I did it so you should too” article. I understand entirely that we’re in a pandemic and that WhatsApp has kept friends and families connected during some tough times. However, that doesn’t give Facebook and WhatsApp a free pass to go rogue with your data.

1. Privacy Versus Profit

The primary reason why I decided to delete WhatsApp is privacy. Back in 2014, WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum sold his app to Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook for in or around $16 billion. Koum would stay on at Facebook as a member of the board, before leaving in silence late in 2019. It emerged that WhatsApp’s departure from being privacy-focused and instead shifting towards feeding the Facebook advertising machine was a primary reason behind his decision to leave.

Indeed, as early as 2016, just two years after the takeover, the cracks in WhatsApp privacy-first mindset was starting to show by way of a privacy policy update. In a since-deleted 2016 WhatsApp blog post, the company outlined plans to share WhatsApp user data with parent company Facebook claiming that “by coordinating more with Facebook, we’ll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp”.

This would be just one of the run-ins Facebook would have with the European Commission who fined Facebook for misleading them, a fine which would be lose change down the back of Zuckerberg’s couch.

Flash forward to this year.

In January, WhatsApp caused quite the furore with another privacy policy update which, if you wanted to continue using the app, you really had to accept. This update itself wasn’t all that bad, but for me, it marks the start of Facebook’s monetisation of WhatsApp. Well, in truth it’s just the biggest milestone in the continuation of this process really.

Remember that $16 billion that Facebook paid for WhatsApp? That figure isn’t something you should ignore. It does impact you. Facebook only paid that because it believes the messaging platform can generate a lot more money in return. You don’t pay for WhatsApp. What do we say about products you don’t pay for? Yes, you are the product. Your attention is a massive commodity and Facebook makes a lot of money from that. The potential in combining WhatsApp insights with Facebook ad targeting is terrifying and I’m not talking about the scaremongering you’ve heard. The reality is much worse.

You know the whole idea that Facebook is showing you eerily suitable ads and we all jokingly say “our phones must be listening to us”. Well, the really scary thing is that Facebook doesn’t need a microphone. It needs metadata, or data about your data. WhatApp has an abundance of this and while this data might seem useless to most, it’s the lifeblood that ad targeting algorithms survive on.

The truth is, we don’t know how much damage will come from WhatsApp and Facebook lowering the walls between the two companies, but my gut is telling me that’s it’s not going to be good for your privacy.

2. Facebook Is Breaking GDPR Rules

I’ve yet to have someone correct me on this. My position is that because WhatsApp will slowly but surely stop working for you unless you accept the new terms and conditions, Facebook is breaking GDPR. I’m a big fan of GDPR and personally believe it’s one of the most important pieces of EU legislation yet. Why? Well, because very few of us realise how important protecting our personal data is so I’m delighted that someone else is fighting that fight for us.

GDPR states that consent must be freely given. The original example of this was companies asking you for your email address to enter a competition. They’d add a tick box saying by entering and ticking here you’re ok with us adding you to our newsletter. That’s actually not allowed because under GDPR you should be able to enter that competition but not join the newsletter. Of course, you can also just not enter the competition.

It’s very similar with WhatsApp.

First of all, you can just not use the platform. But with over 2 billion app users worldwide and with 80% of the Irish population using the platform, quitting WhatsApp isn’t easy.

Next up is continuing to use the platform, but refusing to accept the new terms and conditions. This is workable up to a point. WhatsApp has confirmed that while the app will continue to work for the short-term, in the coming months, functionality will start to drop off to the point of the app being unusable.

This, in my eyes, means acceptance of the updated WhatsApp terms and conditions cannot be freely consented to. This means, you guessed it, the new WhatsApp terms and conditions update is breaking GDPR. Don’t take my word for it. The Hamburg Data Protection Agency has already banned Facebook from processing any data sourced from WhatsApp.

Even if that turns out not to be the case, there’s another GDPR slam dunk that WhatsApp faces, but it’s also a whole reason you should stop using WhatsApp. You are facilitating illegal processing of data.

3. WhatsApp Has An Unhealthy Obsession With Your Contacts

I’ve stopped using WhatsApp. This means, WhatsApp should no longer have me details. But what happens if you are using WhatsApp and you have my phone number in your contacts? Well, WhatsApp will hoover up all of your contacts regardless of who wants their details to be processed or not by WhatsApp and maybe Facebook too.

There’s nothing stopping you from telling WhatsApp not to access your contacts, but then you’ll have to work out who is who in your chat feed.

This is one of the biggest reasons I love Signal. Remember WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum. When he left WhatsApp, disgruntled at how Facebook was running the show, he started the Signal Foundation. Signal absolutely does not want your contacts. Signal looks at encrypted versions of your contacts and compares all of these “hashed” contacts to work out who is on Signal and helps you get in touch with them. Once the task is completed, any information is cleared from Signal servers and all of the contact data is nice and secure on your phone.

This is the beauty of being a non-profit message app like Signal instead of being WhatsApp, an app owned by the very much for profit advertising machine, Facebook.

4. WhatsApp Is Not Open Source

Open-source software is exactly how it sounds. When an app is built, the code and everything about how the app is built gets shared withe the world. Android is an open-source operating system which many smartphone manufacturers, like Samsung, has taken and made versions of for themselves.

When you pay a whopper sum of cash for an app, you’re also buying a lot of intellectual property. This is the way the app is built and coded. Facebook doesn’t want the WhatsApp code out there for everyone to see because it’s valuable. This means WhatsApp isn’t open-source. On the surface, this might seem logical, but it actually sets off security alarm bells.

Open-source software is tested by security specialists on a regular basis. WhatsApp doesn’t get this but apps like Signal and Threema, two communication apps I’ve adopted, are open-source.

5. Facebook Has A Horrible Track Record With Protecting Data

This really should have been the first reason. Facebook is leakier than a colander holding water when it comes to data protection. Recently, a massive dataset of personal Facebook user data was leaked online, with over one million Irish users caught up in the leak. There’s no coincidence that you’re seeing more and more ads on TV for scam phone calls and text messages now too. The Facebook data leak resulted in phone numbers, names, emails and even occupations becoming available online.

It’s a scammers dream. Even some Police forces have been forced to highlight a change in 2019 made group chats less privacy focused.

This is where I point back to my first point. When a company handles so much data capable of generating so much revenue, something has to give. The privacy versus profit aspect means Facebook will have more leaks in future. This is a massive reason why I do not want my daily messenger app connected to the Facebook brand in any way. I’m not worried about Facebook reading my WhatApp messages deliberately. I’m worried about their over zealous growth teams connected the dots by mistake and leaking a load of data or something.

I do not trust Facebook in the slightest.

Facebook or WhatsApp doesn’t really need my personal data. My metadata could be enough for some fun targeting. WhatApp can share when I was last online, who I’m chatting with and for how long. Peer to peer targeting is one of the biggest causes of advertising that makes people think their phone is listening. Your friend is searching on a website for socks, send you a WhatsApp and whether you were talking about socks or not, you might just see sock ads on Facebook.

That’s what metadata can do and it’s extremely powerful.

What Can You Use Instead Of WhatsApp?

There are plenty of alternatives out there. I’ve been using Threema to speak with some family for a couple of years now. But my new primary messaging app is Signal. Maybe there’s a bit of poetic beauty that I find attractive in the whole ex-WhatsApp founder using his Facebook money to try and kill Facebook and WhatsApp.

But Signal is also just massively privacy-focused. In a recent blog post, Signal outlined how they were asked by authorities for data on some of their users. Signal couldn’t help “because everything in Signal is end-to-end encrypted by default, the broad set of personal information that is typically easy to retrieve in other apps simply doesn’t exist on Signal’s servers”.

The non-profit is set up to protect data by default, not profit from it. It’s a whole model that challenges the Facebook and WhatsApp approach and it’s where I’ll be trusting with my messages and video calls from now on.

GTA 5 Is Coming To PS5 And Xbox Series X|S On November 11

Marty
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0
GTA 5 Is Coming To PS5 And Xbox Series X|S On November 11

Rockstar is surely getting a lot of value from GTA 5. I’m sure we’d all love this article to be about Grand Theft Auto 6, but alas it’s not. To be fair, I’ve just got the PS4 version of GTA 5 again and it’s aged incredibly well. Today, Rockstar has confirmed that the special edition GTA 5 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S is launching on November 11 later this year.

Image courtesy of gtaboom.com

On the same day, a standalone version of GTA Online will launch which will be free on PS5 for the first three months.

The new versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online for next-gen consoles is bringing graphic upgrades along with new features. While Rockstar has yet enlighten us as to what exactly is coming, the hope is that we’re going to get a significant upgrade.

The game’s creator said, “the new generation versions of GTA 5 will feature a range of technical improvements, visual upgrades and performance enhancements to take full advantage of the latest hardware, making the game more beautiful and more responsive than ever”.

Launched way back in 2013, GTA 5 has proven to be one of the most popular games of all time, selling 140 million copies.

F1 2021 Icons And Cover Drivers Confirmed

Marty
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0
F1 2021 Icons And Cover Drivers Confirmed

Love a bit of F1 I do. F1 2021 is in the works and today we’ve just got two cool bits of news confirmed. The Codemasters made game will be the first under the ownership of EA Sports.

Iconic Drivers

F1 2021 will features seven iconic drivers who feature as part of the Digital Deluxe content for My Team.

  • Michael Schumacher
  • Ayrton Senna
  • Alain Prost
  • Jenson Button
  • Nico Rosberg
  • David Coulthard
  • Felipe Massa

Cover Drivers

We’ve also had the cover drivers for F1 2021 confirmed. Featuring the high-flying Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles LeClerc.

Sony Xperia 5 II – The Review

Jon
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Sony Xperia 5 II – The Review

The Sony Xperia 5 II is the latest tier 2 phone from Sony, taking some of the best parts of their Xperia 1II while shaving back in a few key areas to bring the best performance possible without the killer price tag. I’ve always been a big fan of Sony, but they have always been a nearly brand, nearly in the sense that every year their flagship and tier 2 phones offer some of the best specs on the market but they always seem to lack that spark to make them standout from the crowd. The Xperia 5II is no different. This year we get a great phone, with a slick looks for the price that is very much focused at camera users with wicked specs for camera and video recording but makes savings by creating a smaller unit that removes the fluffy bells and whistles such as the 4k Display, not unlike the Google Pixel 5.

The Xperia 5II is at it’s core an Xperia 1II lite model, with a 6.1″ display, 120hz refresh rate, sexier rounded corners for better ergonomics, strong battery, the same camera as the flagship and the return of the 3.5mm headphone port. In essence if you want solid specs and a smaller phone, the Xperia 5II could be right up your alley.

Xperia 5II Design

Sony Xperia 5 II - Price & Specifications - Choose Your Mobile

As I mentioned earlier, the Xperia 5II is just really an Xperia 1II mini, we get the same and now standard Sony 21:9 display, a 6.1″ display a whole 0.4″ smaller than its bigger sibling. And while 0.4″ may seem like it’s not that much smaller, it is something you will notice within a couple of seconds of getting to grips with the device. In my opinion the 21:9 ratio of the Sony phones, is half designed with watching videos in mind and half an ergonomic decision. It’s why holding a Sony phone in one hand easier than it’s rivals and it’s easy to hit all corners of the display with your thumb due to the long and narrow design of the chassis.

While some things stay the same, sometimes things need change. In the past the Sony product range has been known for a particular style, hard sharp edges and a boxy look, just think PS4 but in a phone, whereas this year we get rounded edges, a big change for Sony. To be fair this edgy style has been the Sony calling card for almost a decade and this change only makes the phone easier to hold, while the rounding is not so extreme to detract from the iconic Sony design.

As per the norm on the chassis, we also get our volume keys, a reprogrammable Google Assistant button as well as our Camera trigger and fingerprint scanner instead of the in screen sensor. The only downside of this is if your like me, you may end up accidentally hit the button while holding the phone. Other phones in this price range such as the OnePlus 8 use the inscreen scanner, and it’s a let down not getting one here, but by no means is this a deal breaker.

On the base we have our USB-C charger and at the top we see the 3.5mm port, something with was dropped in last years model, making a very welcome return. How much longer we will see the port be included in phone designs is beyond me, but long may it continue.

Overall the glass shelled Xperia 5II looks exactly like you expect a Sony phone to look. It’s slick, the reflective glass body adds some pop, it’s very functional but is it as sexy as some of the competition, that is up for debate.

Display & Camera

The display on the Xperia 5II is good without being great and by that I mean, rather than the 6.5-inch 4K display of the Xperia 1 II we are rocking a 6.1″ Full HD screen but we do get a 120Hz refresh rate which is twice as fast at refreshing images in comparison to previous models. This makes for a smoother experience when scrolling your social media feed….unless you’re Martin and his current rage against the social machine of course. I must say this though, this 120Hz refresh I have seen before and always thought meh, but here’s the things, everything just feels a bit smoother and it’s probably one of the few improvements in smartphone technology that while subtle, you will miss it if you didn’t have it.

I’ve mentioned the 21:9 screen ratio, it’s longer and narrower than most phones and this ratio is designed to be optimised for watching video content in landscape as this is exactly the ratio in which most movies are made. It’s all about small subtle changes, but they do just the trick.

The Camera in the Xperia 5II is exactly what we came here to see. The 5II takes the rear camera’s and the selfie cam straight from the Xperia 1II. It means that at a cheaper price you get the exact same top of the line powerful camera set up that is a whole lot more than your usual point and shoot style camera. We get 3 rear 12mp cameras, a main shooter, ultrawide and a telephoto lens and to be fair to Sony the point and shoot images while good aren’t 10/10, more 7-8/10, but that’s solely because Sony focus on the pro-photographer. With the ability to tinker your camera settings that you can’t access in most phones you have the chance to play with everything from ISO to colour balances and everything in between to help you get the shot you want. The telephoto sensor only works up to 3x optical zoom, but the quality of zoom images is particularly good – without studying them closely you wouldn’t know that they were zoomed-in.

There’s a single 8MP front-facing camera, which produces nice-looking selfie shots. There are many phones with higher-specced selfie cameras, but if you’re just looking to take the odd shot for your social media channels you’ll be perfectly happy with what Sony’s selfie shooter can do. In fairness, the less I see of my mug the better.

Xperia 5II Performance

The Xperia 5II isn’t trying to be the top of the top, packing into it a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with 8GB of RAM. Not the top shelf but close enough that the power is more than sufficient for what you need and maybe even saying this is proof of my own spec sheet snobbery. There’s nowt wrong with the processor and it did the job admirably. Everything loaded without issue and in the past I’ve become used to what I called the “Sony Glitches” but they seem to be a thing of the past with no lags or crashes to note during my time playing with the 5II.

Oh before I forget, Sony also added a fancy new feature called Heat Suppression Power Control, this makes sure the phone doens’t overheat when you go on a heavy video or gaming session. Again it’s not something most would buy a phone for but trust me it’s handy to have and something I will miss as down the years some phones – yes I’m looking at you HTC, managed to get so hot to the touch we’d end up dropping them.

The Xperia 5II will only hit these shores with the 128GB storage, still plenty and you will be able to upgrade using a microSD card. We also get 5G and Android 10 as standard with it’s own Sony UI overlay which gives the operating system its own Sony styling.

Battery life

The phone has the same 4,000mAh battery as the Xperia 1II with the fast charging capability, the only downside you don’t get the 21w fast charger as standard. In fairness, the Xperia 5II is a slightly smaller phone, meaning this is a beast of a battery for a phone of this size and with my standard usage we managed to get to the end of the day with 9% left in the tank….and I would be a tad over the average user.

Sony Xperia 5II Pricing & Specs

Εμφανίστηκε το Sony Xperia 5 II λίγο πριν την ανακοίνωση του

The Sony Xperia 5 II is available through Eir and Vodafone with prices at €800, and it comes in only one model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

TypeSIM-free smartphone
SIM typeDual Nano SIM
Operating systemAndroid 10
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 865 (2.84 GHz, octa-core)
ColourBlack
Screen size6.1″
Screen resolutionFull HD+ 1080 x 2520p
Screen typeOLED
TouchscreenYes
PPI450 ppi
Screen features– 21:9 CinemaWide
– 120 Hz display
– HDR
– Corning Gorilla Glass 6
– Side sense
Camera– Main: Triple 12 MP
– Front: 8 MP
Video resolution– Main: 4K Ultra HD HDR (125 fps)
– Front: Full HD (30 fps)
FlashYes
Camera features– Cinema Pro powered by CineAlta
– Intelligent wind filter
– Up to 60 times per second continuous AF/AE calculation
– Real-time Eye AF (Autofocus) for humans and animals
– Up to 20 fps AF/AE tracking burst
– Bokeh
– Photo pro
– Google Lens
– Portrait selfie
– Panorama
– Creative effect
– Object tracking
– Soft skin effect
– Geo tagging
– QR code reader
– Hand shutter
– Touch capture
Internal storage128 GB
Memory card supportedmicroSD (up to 1 TB)
RAM8 GB
Charging portUSB Type-C
WiFiYes
WiFi hotspot and tetheringYes
4G network3G / 4G / 5G
BluetoothBluetooth 5.1
NFCYes
GPSYes
Sensor– Accelerometer
– Ambient light sensor
– Barometer sensor
– eCompass
– Game rotation vector
– Geomagnetic rotation vector
– Gyroscope
– Magnetometer
– Step counter
– Step detector
– Significant motion detector
– Proximity sensor
SpeakersTrue front stereo speakers
Connectivity features– aGNSS
– Google Cast
– Screen Mirroring
– USB 3.1
– HDCP
– Media Transfer Protocol
BatteryLithium-polymer
Battery capacity4000 mAh
Standby timeUp to 570 hours
Talk timeUp to 21 hours 10 minutes

The Goosed Verdict

The question is, should I buy a Sony Xperia 5II? Well that really depends!

100% go for it if you are a fan of Sony phones, maybe you’re in the market for an upgrade or want something a little smaller that still keeps to the core values of a Sony phone. This model is all about them premium features in a smaller size and if the Xperia 1II was something you had in mind then the smaller Xperia 5II is an ideal alternative. You would also like this phone if photography is your things. The Sony Xperia 5II is about more than point and shoot out of the box photos, here you get to control the camera settings to get exactly the shots you want, day or night.

The other side of that is, the Xperia 5II is not going to be for you if screen quality is a big things for you, I would be looking at the Xperia 1II or the Galaxy S20 wit their QHD displays as better choices. The Sony Xperia 5II also doesn’t include wireless charging nor does it come cheaply with pricing similar to a OnePlus 8. If price is the major issue have a look at the Google Pixel 5 or the Xperia 10II for worthy alternatives. It’s a cracking phone, I truly did love it but was it enough to move from my Pixel 5G as the daily rider? Not this time.

Army Of The Dead: What We Learned By Watching The First 15 Minutes

Marty
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Army Of The Dead: What We Learned By Watching The First 15 Minutes

I’m massively excited about Army of the Dead which is coming to Netflix on 21 May. Earlier, Netflix premiered the first 15 minutes of Zack Snyder’s eagerly-anticipated zombie flick. What did we learn?

The Zombies

I always look out for what kind of zombies we’re getting in a movie like this. Army of the Dead will feature some smart as hell strong and bloody fast zombies who infect others. Those infected will reanimate in a matter of moments and communicate with each other with a series of clicking like noises.

They are going to be really clever zombies capable of comprehension and maybe even emotion on some levels. It might be the case that not all zombies are equal. Some look more mobile and intelligent than others.

The Movie Is Adult

Just 15 minutes and we’ve seen glorious amounts of gore and nudity. This isn’t going to be a family movie in the slightest. It looks like Zach Snyder was very aware of this decision.

There’s Going To Be Comedy

The tunes playing in the background along with the general style of the opening show that Army of the Dead is going to be one hello an action movie. There’s plenty of room for humour too which, in my opinion, every good zombie movie needs too.

r/Ireland’s Last County Standing

Dean
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0
r/Ireland’s Last County Standing

Over the past few days, a country wide last man standing competition as been all the talk of on Reddit’s r/Ireland. Redditor u/Darth_Memer_1916 woke up very bored one morning and decided to post “Deleting one county a day until there is one left [Day 1]. Most upvoted county in the comments gets deleted.” And for the past few days, Irish Redditor’s have been vigourously hitting F5 to see what county is knocked out of each round. The current list of eliminated counties is Dublin (R1), Roscommon (R2), Longford (R3), Carlow (R4), Antrim (R5), Offaly (R6), Meath (R7), Cavan (R8) and Tyrone (R9) 

After round 1, Dublin were the first to go with 1.3k votes. That post also got over 400 upvotes and 170 comments. Now 10 rounds later, the latest post has 3.1k upvotes and it looks like Cork is next to go with 1.9k votes. This just shows how much traction this thing is getting and it is providing some top quality memes.

But one Redditor who has stood out is r/eoincasey78. Since round 3, r/eoincasey78 was pushing for Tyrone to be eliminated next. In rounds 6 and 7 he began spamming the comments section simply stating “Tyrone” and was getting lots of support with 1000’s of upvotes. Come round 8, poor Tyrone’s demise was cemented after r/eoincasey78 again nominated them to be eliminated and gained 1.9k upvotes and 40 awards (an astonishing amount of awards for a comment on Reddit). Tyrone fell and r/eoincasey78’s work was done. And then in came a flood of meme’s, and also confusion from those who our out of the loop of this whole facade.

As a Limerick man, I am very keen to see how we get on. We have been keeping a low profile for now, and there have been some whispers by people about voting Laois out next. But you can never really know. It will be interesting to see who wins. It doesn’t seem like there’s any particular reason why a county is eliminated. It just seems to be a free for all. You don’t need a Reddit account to follow this either. Just keep an eye on r/Ireland and you can read the comments and see how the votes are going.

The internet can be a great place sometimes.

Do You Have To Accept The New WhatsApp Terms And Conditions?

Marty
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Do You Have To Accept The New WhatsApp Terms And Conditions?

If you don’t think data protection is important or even a little bit sexy, then these are the kind of topics you need to start focusing on. A couple of years back I was landed with the job of DPO in a digital marketing agency. I started to learn about GDPR and data protection and fell a little bit in love. Often, people didn’t like my interpretation of GDPR either. Why? Because GDPR often tells businesses what they don’t want to hear, yet here we are and things like tracking cookies are on the way out. This is definitely the case with my complaint against the Catholic Church and is most certainly the case with Facebook and the new WhatsApp terms and conditions. The problem is that you won’t be able to use WhatsApp if you don’t accept the new terms and conditions. Here’s everything you need to know.

What Is The WhatsApp Terms And Conditions Change?

You might remember that WhatsApp tried to change its terms and conditions back in January of this year. It caused quite an uproar. Basically, people understandably don’t like WhatApp and Facebook cross-sharing data. While we all know they are the same company, they perform two different tasks and we expect walls between them.

The WhatsApp January terms and conditions change sought to tear down these walls and some users believed it would pave the way for Facebook getting more of your personal data from WhatsApp.

WhatsApp and Facebook caved, saying more time would be given for people to weigh up what’s going on. It went quiet, but here we are and the terms and conditions are going to be updated on 15 May.

What Happens On 15 May?

On 15 May, a new terms and conditions banner will appear in WhatsApp. You’ll be asked to agree to the terms. You’ll be able to dismiss this, but it will come back again after a few weeks.

In a statement, WhatsApp confirmed that after a period of time, “you won’t be able to access your chat list, but you can still answer incoming phone and video calls. If you have notifications enabled, you can tap on them to read or respond to a message or call back a missed phone or video call”. It also stated that “after a few weeks of limited functionality, you won’t be able to receive incoming calls or notifications, and WhatsApp will stop sending messages and calls to your phone”.

Should I Accept The New WhatsApp Terms And Conditions?

It’s entirely up to you. Personally, I am contemplating deleting WhatsApp and moving to Threema or Signal. But I’m also realistic in understanding that 80% of the Irish public use WhatsApp and to stop using the messenger platform where I communicate with family, friends and even colleagues in groups would be extremely difficult, particularly during a pandemic.

You need to understand exactly what’s happening and make an informed decision. WhatsApp says the changes enable businesses to communicate with you and provide further clarity on how your data is processed. They also state that messages will remain encrypted end-to-end and stay private. They’ve provided a set of FAQs but don’t just take WhatsApp’s word for it.

You should read up on other news sources covering the topic too. The first thing you need to do is appreciate that when you accept these terms and conditions, like all terms and conditions, your personal data is at risk and more specifically how it’s handled by large organisations changes.

While WhatsApp says “the update includes new options people will have to message a business on WhatsApp, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data”, they also stated that the new features are “entirely optional”, but opting out of the terms is not. Well, it is, but the app becomes useless. For me, this is effectively a breach of GDPR as acceptance of terms must be done freely. WhatsApp is saying nothing else changes right now, but the changes could open a Pandora’s Box of changes down the line.

In the WhatsApp FAQs, you’ll find that the company states “should we choose to share such data with the Facebook Companies for this purpose in the future, we will only do so when we reach an understanding with the Irish Data Protection Commission on a future mechanism to enable such use.

What Does The DPC Think?

You would think that the Data Protection Commission provides a blanket of security in this scenario, but unfortunately, the DPC has a history of taking it quite easy on organisations that have been flippant with GDPR laws. They seem happy enough that Facebook has said they’ll behave.

Speaking to Independent.ie, a DPC spokesperson confirmed “WhatsApp has on numerous occasions provided written assurances to the DPC and other EU Supervisory Authorities that Facebook is not permitted to and does not use WhatsApp user data for Facebook’s own purposes, particularly for the purposes of platform safety and integrity, product development and ad serving”.

The timing of all of this does seem somewhat convenient. As Apple introduced tracker blocking which massively impacts Facebook’s advertising model and puts billions of dollars of income at risk, just 4% of iOS users are allowing Facebook to track them.

Adding to the believe that the DPC has once again taken a soft stance against a large organisation, Johannes Caspar, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection, said he believes the messaging app’s new terms of use is illegal. As a result, an emergency order has been issue prohibiting Facebook from processing WhatsApp data for its own purposes.

What Happens Now?

What happens next is anybody’s guess. A large number of people will likely just accept the terms and conditions without giving it a second thought, and that’s assuming they’ve not already accepted. Personally, as I mentioned, I’m very close to pulling the plug on WhatsApp and even Facebook. It doesn’t sit right with me that “optional changes” require mandatory terms and conditions updates which effectively breaches Article 4.14 insisting consent is freely given.

Until large organisations realise that people do care about their personal data handling, nothing will change. The easiest way to ensure Facebook doesn’t mistreat your data is to not let them have it.

This will either solidify WhatsApp as the messenger of choice for people, or mark the beginning of the end with people chasing alternatives like Signal, Threema and Telegram.

What do you think? Will you accept the terms and conditions or start to think about change? Let us know in our Twitter Poll.

Lupin Part 2 Is Coming To Netflix On 11 June 2021

Marty
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Lupin Part 2 Is Coming To Netflix On 11 June 2021

One of the surprises of lockdown box set binging for me was Lupin. I shouldn’t have been surprised given how amazing Omar Sy was in Intouchables, the original of The Upside.

The incredible Lupin was split in half so we’ve only been drip fed the first half of the show so far. The second half was recently teased but has now been confirmed for release on 11 June. So there’s something worth pencilling into your diary as Assane’s quest for revenge against Hubert Pelligrini continues.

Here’s a trailer for you now.

Resident Evil Village Review: Is Village Worth Buying?

Marty
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Resident Evil Village Review: Is Village Worth Buying?

I’ve had a select number of encounters with the Resident Evil franchise. I despised Resident Evil 2 and the insistence on saving ammo and legging it past the enemy. I loved Slipknot’s My Plague theme song to the blockbuster movie from the, ultimately awful, first movie of the franchise. I started playing Resident Evil 7 but for some reason put the controller down and left it. I was torn when Resident Evil Village landed in to review. I knew I’d be spending a couple of hours in fear reviewing the game. But I have to say, I absolutely love it. Here’s why.

Resident Evil Village: What’s It About?

Resident Evil is one of those games that has a mega deep canon to follow. I’ve jumped into playing Resident Evil Village without any prior knowledge beyond what I mentioned in the opening paragraph and I still loved the game. Though I have to admit, there are some blank spots. You can watch this video safe in the knowledge that it will only improve playing Village. It’ll take thirty minutes but I recommend it.

Now that you’re up to speed, it’s time for Village. From here on in, there are some mild spoilers but hopefully nothing worse than what would be spoiled from watching the average game trailer.

Three years after the events of Resident Evil 7, you return as Ethan Winters. In the opening scene, Ethan and his wife Mia, are making dinner after their daughter Rose is put to bed. All hell breaks lose as long time Resident Evil character Chris Redfield bursts in all guns blazing. Mia Winters is left dead, Rose is taken and Ethan is chucked in the pack of an evacuation van with them all.

You take over control when that van crashes and Ethan hikes into the Romanian titular Village in search of his daughter.

The Village: Explained

In the village itself, there’s old shacks, grave galore and plenty of exploring to do. You learn that the village is run by four lords. If the story being based in Romania wasn’t enough, the characters of the lords lean heavily on the classics of the horror genre. Lady Alcina Dimitrescu is the mandatory vampire-type character required for any horror based in Romania. You’ve most likely already heard of her from her massive meme-worth when the game was announced. Who knew that a near ten-foot tall vampire would trigger online fandom.

It’s impossible to deny the classic horror-movie nods made in Village

Karl Heisenberg, another of the lords, plays a Dr. Frankenstein type character with telekinetic powers. Donna Beneviento is somewhat Chucky-like and I’ll be honest when I say, I’m not entirely sure how Salvatore Moreau fits into my logic of the hour classics, but I’ll be damned if I’m letting it ruin my point.

Resident Evil Village: Completed Opinion

Plenty of reviews online will talk about the game as part of the overall Resident Evil canon but I’m afraid I’m useless here. I’m picking this game up as almost a newbie, so all of the game play is new to me.

Story

Coming in somewhat cold to Village, I still thoroughly enjoyed the story-telling of the game. I didn’t feel overwhelmed or lost at all. Just a few minutes after completing the game, I popped onto YouTube to find that video I’ve shared above. I’m a bit peeved at myself for not watching this first as I feel being up to speed would have vastly improved an already brilliant game.

Resi Village: Launch Trailer

If you want more trailers and open yourself to more spoilers, go looking for them. You’ll not find them here.

That said, I really have to admit the story is compelling to the point where I played and completed the game in three sittings between Friday and Sunday. So gripping was the story that I found myself at 2AM, slightly shaken, but deciding to stop at a save point instead of ploughing on. I was never stuck or left feeling like I couldn’t somewhat easily work out a problem or find a boss’s weakness.

How Long Does Resident Evil Take To Beat?

I’m a totally average gamer and Resident Evil Village took me just over ten hours to beat. Most above average gamers will probably do it in just under ten hours.

The world of the game is fairly explorable and I would even say somewhat replayable to find all the nooks and crannies where something could be hidden.

Gameplay

The vast majority of the game is played out in the first-person view of Ethan Winters.

Unlike Resi games of old, I didn’t find myself struggling with ammunition management. I will admit to playing through most of my review on “Standard” difficulty before having to drop to “Casual” towards the end. This may have influenced the ammo load-outs. One thing to note though. If like me, you do turn your game difficulty down a notch to pass a boss or something, there’s no going back up.

Regardless, my only prior experience of the franchise was having to survive without ammo and that just doesn’t suit my style. The first few kills are tense as you load round upon round into the attacking Lycans, but after a few upgrades, you take them in your stride. After a while, killing becomes second nature. While there are a few jumps I thoroughly enjoyed where the game landed between shoot ’em up and adventure game.

If that still sounds like your cup of tea, Village is still on the purchase list. Let’s keep digging.

Mechanics

As I’ve alluded to, throughout the game, you do get to upgrade your weapons and even acquire new ones. A special, and rather rotund, character in the game known as the Duke, will sell you items. He’ll sell you anything from weapons to health kits as long as you have the cash. You get gather items in the game and sell them to Duke in order to raise funds.

Pro-tip: The game will stores “key items” separately so you can’t sell something important to continue with the game. If the Duke will buy it and you don’t want it, sell it.

One other fear I had from my original, and very short, Resi days, was saving. I feared I’d be limited to saving only when I had an ink ribbon but thankfully that’s gone. Any time you find a typewriter in the game, save to your heart’s content.

Overall, the gameplay lends itself to Resident Evil Village striking an amazing balance between storytelling and being fun to play while remaining challenging. There is also a special Mercenaries Mode which I’ve yet to test out.

Puzzles

Another of the features I do recall from Resident Evil games of old is the odd puzzle. Village is littered with some of these and I have to say they did leave me feeling a little more intelligent than I am. Between solving music boxes to beating bosses, some of the puzzles are arguably a little too simplistic. I wasn’t stumped for too long, but I guess if that sounds off putting to you, ramp up the difficulty levels and you’ll get your fill of gameplay challenges.

Verdict: Is Resident Evil Village Worth Buying?

My excited for Village was muted purely based on the knowledge that the game was about to scare the life out of me for a few days. Still, as scary as the game is in parts it’s extremely playable and enjoyable even if you have mediocre gaming abilities like I do. There are very few titles available on the PlayStation 5 at the minute that cam truly claim the title of “PS5 Game”. While I enjoyed Returnal and couldn’t help but noticed the draw to come back into the game for more, Village just left me craving more hours in the day.

With ten hours of gameplay clocked up, I’ve completed and thoroughly enjoyed Resident Evil Village to the point where I might go back and try a new difficulty. I’ll definitely go and give Mercenaries Mode a lash.

For €69.99, Village is money well spent. The story is great and the gameplay enjoyable and challenging yet not off-putting. It’s an all-round winner.

Resident Evil Village is available now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S and Steam.

If you’re a hardcore gamer who doesn’t trust my opinion, check out Vinny’s review of Village from our friends at Tech Stomper.

Our YouTube review of Resident Evil Village is also live!

Resident Evil Village: FAQs

We’ve scoured the internet for the most asked questions about the game to help you weigh up your purchase.

Is Resident Evil Village coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Yes. Resident Evil Village is not a next-gen exclusive and is available for last-gen consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One.

Is Resident Evil Village multiplayer?

Not really. The game itself is a single player campaign. Capcom is, however, releasing Re:Verse for online multiplayer. This was originally planned to launch with Village but has been delayed.

Is Village an open-world game?

Kind of, yes. You are free to explore the Romanian Village but certain parts are only unlocked as you progress through the game. There’s limited value in wandering outside of the game’s story.

Will Village be on Game Pass?

Nope. Afraid not. Don’t expect to see Village on Game Pass until 2022 at the earliest.

Which Resident Evil number is Village?

This is Resident Evil 8.

U-Mask Model 2.2: Same Mask, Same Price But Offers Less

Marty
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0
U-Mask Model 2.2: Same Mask, Same Price But Offers Less

I’ve been following the whole U-Mask saga for the past couple of months. A popular Italian face mask, designed to protect the wearer and others, being banned because of doubts over claims the product made, particularly about being a medical-grade device. The U-Mask website confirms that a new U-Mask Model 2.2 is about to go back on sale. It looks the very same as the controversial U-Mask 2.1, costs the same as the Model 2.1 but is no longer considered a medical device.

The U-Mask Model 2.2

The new U-Mask Model 2.2 looks just like the U-Mask Model 2.1 that I reviewed a while back. It still uses non-sensical jargon to wow potential buyers. Maybe this non-sense won me over a bit when I originally bought my first mask. Language like this product being an “innovative, biotech, reusable face mask that bidirectionally counteracts the passage of external microorganisms and neutralises them for up to 200 hours of respiratory use, thanks to its Biolayer” is enough to make me thing these people know what they’re doing.

After all, the mask is still incredibly comfortable and meets the requirement of being a face covering.

But, what about the medical grading?

U-Mask: No Longer Medical Grade

In answering questions posed by Goosed.ie, U-Mask stated, “on March 26, 2021, the Italian Ministry of Health prohibited the placing on the market of U-Mask 2.1 and ordered the withdrawal of the product within Italy. We consider this provision illegal and, therefore, we have acted immediately to protect our rights and interests in the relevant offices. The U-Mask fully complies with International laws and regulations. Following independent, international laboratory testing, we can confirm that all our masks are safe and effective”.

Previously, U-Mask had claimed their Model 2.1 to be medical grade equipment. Now, their certifications section has been updated to say the U-Mask Model 2.2 “is not classified as PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)”, nor is it “certified as a MD (Medical Device)”.

It’s a big of a cop out from the mask maker. Yes, this was always the easiest answer given that anyone can make a mask and sell it. Making medical grade equipment is a different story. The claims the company had made in the past were the reason I bought these masks. In releasing the U-Mask Model 2.2 without medical grade or PPE certifications, U-Mask has fallen dramatically short of their more recent statements of belief in their product.

And here’s the best bit.

A Lesser Mask For The Same Price

You can now pre-order the new U-Mask Model 2.2 which even come in colours named “Pretender” and “Amnesia” which seem to be ill-timed jokes by the company. I say that because you’d want to have a short memory to not realise you’re paying the same price for masks promising a lot less.

The original masks I purchased which claimed to be medical grade PPE cost €39. The same price as this new face coverings which are not classed as medical grade devices.

Will I still buy one? Possibly. I need new filters for my U-Mask and they do remain comfortable face coverings to wear. However, I’m shocked that the company has not reduced the price of their product to align with the fact they are no longer medical-grade devices.

Buyer beware.

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