Tag Archives: Privacy

Android, iOS, Mobile, News

WhatsApp boosted with flurry of new features

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Exciting times ahead for WhatsApp users as we round up the many new features coming very soon to your device!

Improved privacy features for messaging and calls

WhatsApp made great strides in privacy for messaging apps, when they introduced view-once messaging. Now, this process will get a whole lot easier. Spotted on a WhatsApp beta build on the Play Store, simply long-tap the send button to send a view-once message. This will also apply to sharing view-once photos and videos, though at the moment, GIF formats will not be able to be shared this way as reported by WABetaInfo.

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Image source: WABetaInfo

Another boost to privacy, WABetaInfo have previewed a new feature called “Protect IP address in calls”. This feature can be toggled to mask your IP address by relaying calls through WhatsApp servers, making it harder to trace your location. While more secure, the feature comes at the cost of a small reduction in call quality. Another security feature for calls was the option to silence unknown callers. This toggle feature will stop calls from unknown callers ringing, while still showing up in your Calls tab.

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Image source: WABetaInfo

Text formatting and enhanced media sharing

We can now expect more personalization and utility in messaging thanks to the new text formatting feature coming to WhatsApp. WABetaInfo showcased formatting tools such as syntax for blocking code snippets, quoting specific text, and creating text lists. There will also be a new “Quote”, which improves upon the existing “Quote message” feature. This will allow you to now quote specific parts of messages instead of the whole message.

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Image source: WABetaInfo

WhatsApp will also be addressing another key issue; sharing HD media. As reported by 9to5Google via the Verge, there is a new “HD” button available when adding an image to a message. Selecting it brings up two options; standard quality (1600 x 1052) and HD quality (4096 x 2692). Recipients will also have the option to keep the standard quality or HD quality versions when on slow connections. No details on how compressed the images will be as of yet. WhatsApp will also give the same choice for HD video, as reported by TechCrunch. Users can now opt to send their videos either compressed to the current app standard of 480p or toggle HD video of 720p.

Native macOS app may be a reality soon

Great news for Mac users, WhatsApp will soon be available as a native macOS app. As reported by Tech Radar, the new app is already available to download for free via WhatsApp servers. However, if you prefer to use the Mac App Store, you will have to be patient as it is not available as of yet. Along with the new app, you can also expect integration with native Mac features such as “drag and drop” for easier media sharing and longer chat histories. There will also be enhanced call features, with capacity to connect 8 people on video call and 32 people on audio call. You can also join a group call after it has started, see your call history and opt to receive call notifications even when the app is closed. Alongside this features, you will also get the expected functionality of WhatsApp including end-to-end encryption and cross-platform support. Mac users will need to have a system running on macOS 11 Big Sur and powered by Apple chipsets; at least the Apple M1, to be able to use this app. If you don’t meet those requirements, don’t fret as there is always WhatsApp web.

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Image source: Meta

Screen sharing and quality of life improvements

Another big addition coming to WhatsApp will be screen sharing over video calls. Keeping up with competitors like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, WhatsApp will now allow sharing of your phone or desktop screen as reported by Android Police. You can choose to share a specific app or your whole screen over a video call. Screen sharing will be protected by end-to-end encryption. The drawbacks are audio cannot be shared in screen sharing. To further support this feature, WhatsApp will allow video calls in landscape mode, to take advantage of your screen’s real estate. The feature might be coming sooner than expected. Keep a lookout for a Share button in the bottom action bar in your next video call.

WhatsApp screen share changelog
Image source: Android Police

WhatsApp is also rolling out some quality of life enhancements to improve your app experience. This includes a revamped UI for Settings and the chat list along with a dedicated “You” page which houses your account information. There will be some minor visual enhancements, including the profile picture moved to the top right of the home screen.

WhatsApp new UI
Image source: WABetaInfo

Along with this UI update, Android Police has reported a new, sleek animation on the button when switching between audio message and video message. The icons jump up and twist when changing from a mic to a camera. This makes it easier to know which type of message is being composed, in addition to the existing floating tooltip. And finally, Android Police also reports the addition of a new page encouraging users to create their own Community. With WhatsApp being a staple for group chats, the Community feature will help organize messaging for larger groups of people. This is especially useful for neighborhood, schools and even select work groups. There is also a handy Get Started button that will help walk you through creating your first Community.

New features may already be in your hands

There are no exact dates when the new features will be available, but as it is a staged roll out, you may already have the chance to experience the enhanced WhatsApp. With the addition of these new features, WhatsApp is making great strides in keeping up with the competition. In fact, they may just end the year as the best messaging app in the market!

Business, News

Mozilla Enhances Online Privacy with Firefox Relay Integration

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Navigating the online world while safeguarding personal information has become increasingly challenging. Mozilla’s response – Firefox Relay – has just received an upgrade that promises enhanced privacy protection in the digital realm.

In a bid to fortify online privacy, Mozilla has seamlessly integrated the Firefox Relay feature into the Firefox experience itself. Formerly an add-on, Relay acts as a protective barrier for users’ email addresses, shielding them from unsolicited marketing emails and potential data breaches. With this integration, users can conveniently utilize the Relay feature to safeguard their personal email addresses while navigating the web.

Meet Firefox Relay, a privacy-first and free product that hides your real email address

Acquiring this enhanced layer of online privacy is simple. Users need only possess a Firefox account to access the built-in Relay feature, available for free within the browser. Mozilla aims to make this feature available to millions of users over the upcoming weeks.

This integration lines up with Mozilla’s commitment to elevating the user experience by prioritizing privacy. The company introduced Firefox Relay functionalities earlier this year, allowing users to seamlessly interact with the tool through their toolbar, generate fresh email masks, and reuse existing ones. Notably, Relay ensures protection against web trackers, a significant step in preserving sensitive data.

For those unacquainted with Firefox Relay, it offers practical solutions for various online scenarios. Users can generate temporary email aliases to safeguard personal emails, benefiting from the service’s email filtering that eliminates trackers before forwarding messages to the primary email ID. Whether it’s crafting transient emails or maintaining confidentiality on public platforms, Firefox Relay empowers users to embrace a more secure online experience, now more conveniently accessible than ever.

Android, Computers, iOS, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Kaspersky Redefines End-Point Protection – Go Standard, Plus, or Premium 

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Cybersecurity is a big talking point today. It is not a new thing; it really has been a concern since the digital age. There are always going to be perpetrators out in the wild who try to cheat, game systems, and even do harm to others for their own benefit. The most recent security threat, and still is one of the biggest threats to cybersecurity, is ransomware.  

The thing is, while there are numerous talks about how cyber security should be implemented in corporations and company devices, we often forget that the cyber-first world encourages users to also use their own personal devices for work and at work – your smartphones for example. Where your organization’s issued devices are locked down and secured, your own devices are not. Where Your organization implements security measures on their own back-end digital infrastructure, your own devices are often left untouched. Where your company protects itself, you are left unprotected. So, what do you do?  

You get yourself a protection plan of yourself of course. You get yourself Kaspersky’s latest and most comprehensive protection program. For 2023 Kaspersky introduces products that are more streamlined than ever and more comprehensive for all kinds of budget. With updated UI, the Kaspersky protection suites are also made to be more intuitive than ever while offering the most comprehensive protection and control back to users. Their latest suites also offer protection for Windows, Mac, Android, and even iOS. 

Kaspersky Standard, or Plus, or Premium 

The product naming scheme has become even more simplified than before too. Now you pick between the Standard, Plus, and Premium protection plans that offer different coverage and protection layers. Of course, they come with different price points too.  

With the Standard package starting at MYR 70/year (1 device), you get the full might of Kaspersky’s antivirus program that will also detect and remove viruses or malware even before you get your Kaspersky security suite. On top of that, you get real-time protection against the latest known threats to your devices. Kaspersky standard also comes with Safe Browsing and Anti-Phishing suites alongside Firewall and Network Monitor to further protect yourself from malicious websites, downloads, extensions, and even applications. Unlike older cybersecurity suites that tend to slow your PC down, the new Kaspersky security suite offers Quick Startup, PC Speed-up, and Disk Cleanup Tools to ensure that your PC is always working optimally. If you game on your devices too, Kaspersky offers a Game and Do Not Disturb modes to ensure that your devices work to offer the best performance for your games while ensuring that you are not disturbed in an intense battle.  

The Plus suite from MYR 96/year (1 device) onward adds an unlimited VPN subscription and Premium Password Manager to the mix. You also have access to Data Leak Checker that monitors the internet and dark web for compromised personal data while offering steps to ensure that your data is always protected. The plan also offers users the ability to monitor their home network and the devices that are connected to the network. 

The Premium plan offers the full might of what Kaspersky can offer you for MYR 139/year (1 device) onward. On top of everything you get from the Standard and Plus plans, you also get Kaspersky’s identity protection suite and premium technical support that can even help you install your Kaspersky application for you, if it is too much of a hassle for yourself to do. They also offer the occasional PC health checks done by a professional if you need. In terms of identity protection, they offer something they call an Identity Protection Wallet that stores copies of your sensitive data including identification documents and even licenses in an encrypted format. There is also a one-year free subscription of Kaspsersky Safe Kids suite to further protect your family.  

Price and Availability 

Kaspersky’s Standard, Plus, and Premium protection plan is now available for MYR 70/year onward (Standard, 1 device) all the way to MYR 195/year (Premium, 5 devices). You can get them from Kaspersky’s website or authorized retailers across the nation. If you choose to get your Kaspersky protection suite now from their website, you are entitled to a 17% introductory discount for your 1-year subscription.  

Android, Mobile, News

You Can Soon Delete Your User Data from an App Thanks to Google

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Data privacy and security is a big topic. It is also something Apple and Google, the world’s largest tech firms, have been working on for a long time. Over time, Google and Apple have both separately introduce new measures and policies for their developers to improve on security and giving more privacy access to their users. In their latest policy update, Google might make things easier for you if you wish to opt out or finally delete an app you no longer want to use.

As of yesterday, Google has introduced a few key initiatives for their Google Play store for 2023 and beyond. In their latest blog update, they are looking to achieve a few things with their initiative an policy update. Ads is still a big thing for Google, but they are looking to soften ads served to users. You are not getting any less ads, but Google seems to limit the amount of data that you share with apps and therefore shared across ad algorithms.

Google is also introducing a new Play Integrity API that is supposed to better protect their developers and the IP that comes with the apps. Alongside the enhanced API, Google is also introducing Google Play SDK Index so that developers have better overview over their SDK uses. In all this, they also look to balance the experience for developers and users by ensuring that there are better policies in place to ensure that data collection is done as responsibly as possible. At the same time, they want to make Google Play even safer for children and families, all through the updated policy.

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Source: Google

The biggest emphasis, at least according to another blog update, is allowing more data control for its users. It is not just about accessing and viewing more data than ever. While that is also a part of an improved transparency over users’ data, the policy update requires developers to allow their users to have even more control and deliberation with their own data on their selected platforms. It is also more than just allowing you to choose which data or hardware that the app gets access to.

Modern apps requires us to hold a virtual account with the provider’s platform to use. Even if you are using a Google account to sign into different apps, the platform technically creates another account for you just for their platform. If you wish to create a separate account, you can too via the apps. What most apps does not allow you to do though is to reverse that process. That is about to change.

In Google’s latest policy for developers, developers are going to be required to enable in-app account deletion or at least initiate the account deletion process via their apps. Google also requires the developer to allow the app deletion process and initiation to be done completely online too so that users do not have to reinstall an app just to delete their account. Since the account deletion process can be done completely via your app, you also do not have to access two different devices to delete your user data off their platforms.

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Source: Google

With the policy as well, Google states that any account deletion must also be accompanied with a complete deletion of a user’s data from their database. In that case, users also get an option to either keep or delete their data from a developer’s database when their delete their accounts. There are going to be cases where developers might require data retention for security, fraud prevention, or regulatory compliance. In that case, the developer must clearly state that they will have hold your data for whatever reason they cite.

Google is looking to enforce their policy starting December 2023. They are allowing for extensions for developers up until May 2024. That also means that you can expect all your apps to include your account deletion feature from 2024 onward. Of course, this policy will not just affect Android users with access to Google Play. This most likely will also translate to users of other platforms since the policy does affect most developers that are on both Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Mobile, News

WhatsApp Allows You to Become More Private by Locking Your Individual Chats

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WhatsApp just brought some major updates in the past week with some new features in its Communities feature. They have also added a few features to be tested for beta users last week. One of them is a creative text editing tool that allows users to change the text’s alignment and fonts. Testers also get to work with disappearing messages anywhere from 24 hours, 7 days, and 90 days. There could also be a new ‘audio chat’ function which seems to be a sort of group chat via WhatsApp where included or invited members can go in and out of the chat at any time they want. Now, they are adding more security feature that might actually be a lot of use.

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Source: WA Beta Info

The latest WhatsApp Beta version 2.23.8.2 for Android allows you to lock selected chats. That applies to both one-on-one chats and group chats. You can either use your fingerprint as a key or just a regular PIN code. The locked chats even have a separate tab for it so that you can easily set it out from other chats. Your locked chats will not be able to be seen from the main chat screen though, so you might want to remember whose chat you have locked. If you failed to enter the right credentials to open the chat, the app will prompt you to clear the chat before you open in the next time. It is not only chats that gets locked too, the media files shared on these private chats will not get saved into your smartphone’s gallery.

WhatsApp, at least in Malaysia, is the most popular alternative messenger app. With the latest community update, WhatsApp has become one of the most powerful community management tool to have for community managers and admins. While they have been also updating the app with more security patches than before to make the app one of the most secure in the world, they have not given much in terms of control over privacy and security of a user. With the new beta update, it seems like WhatsApp is putting more control into the users’ hands. We are sure to be locking some our private chats aside to keep prying eyes from it.

News

#JomJagaPrivasi with Meta’s Privacy Cafe

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The world is quickly changing. In many ways, the landscape of social media and how we are online has changed drastically since social media became a mainstay. More of us are concerned with our data and how companies are handling it. We have become ever more critical of our own privacy when we are online. One of the largest social media companies we deal with on a regular basis has to be Meta. With over 3.7 billion people engaging with Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and Facebook, it’s become even more imperative that users are aware of the steps to protect their privacy and data.

Privacy Cafe – Sit, Eat and Explore Privacy and Data Protection

To that end, Meta kicked off the week-long campaign with a unique “Privacy Cafe” where users of their many platforms could learn the many tools available to them to protect their privacy and data. The event which took place from 28th to 30 October at The Farm Craft in Bangsar South, saw the neighbourhood cage undergo a top to toe transformation into Meta’s Privacy Cafe. The cafe featured interactive quizzes and AR-enabled activities that not only educated the public about the tools but encouraged them to activate and take control of their online privacy.

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The Privacy Cafe featured an immersive Instagram AR Filter developed in collaboration with Florian Sebatier and an interactive digital experience called “Your Home”. “Your Home” allowed users to become interior decorators and create a home experience that they were comfortable with. The furnishings in the “Your Home” experience were analogues for the many controls available on Facebook and worked to demystify the whole concept of online privacy and data protection.

Of course, to help convey the message, Meta also recruited the help of local social media stars like Ceddy Ang, Tan Yuki, Gajendrabalan Chandra, Adam
Muzam, Ori Yuanwei, Amira Sachie and Jessica Chaw to help share and relate their experiences with privacy on Meta’s platforms.

Continuing the Conversation Online

In addition to the on-ground event, Meta Malaysia also had Facebook live sessions where they had open discussions with the public about their privacy tools and controls across Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp. With the increasing awareness about privacy and data protection in Malaysia, Meta is looking to be one of the places where users can safely interact and be social online.

They’ve also put together a Privacy Fact Sheet with all their efforts including end-to-end encryption on all their platforms, Two-factor authentication and increased accountability for third party apps accessing accounts on their platforms.

While the onground activation is over, Meta is looking to continue the conversation online. They continue to make the “Your Home” and Instagram AR experiences accessible online for users to get to know the controls and safety measures that are available to them.

Meta-Malaysia-Privacy-Fact-SheetDownload
Lifestyle, Mobile, News

WhatsApp Now Allows You to Hide from Select Contacts and Mute Users in Group Calls 

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WhatsApp last week rolled out a new update to their app. No, they have not added the Communities functions yet. They are still testing the feature and they tell us that they are getting ready to launch it soon.  

The update we are referring to last week is mostly an update to their privacy feature and a few other functions. One of the newer things they have finally added to give you more control over your own privacy is the ability to limit the information you share with the people you choose to share or not share them with. You can now block specific contacts from viewing your WhatsApp profile photos and statuses.  

While this is a new feature to WhatsApp, Telegram users are already quite familiar with the function. In Addition to that, Telegram now also do not require users to register a phone number to be attached to the messenger account. WhatsApp still requires you to attach a phone number to your messenger account, which might not change for a while. 

There is more that WhatsApp has updated. While group calls have been a thing for a long time on WhatsApp, the more granular control to group admins has not been a feature. Users must be responsible for their own call controls. While this may not be a bad thing in regular social calls, users who wants to use WhatsApp as their main instrument in corporate calls might find it annoying.  

To address that, WhatsApp now allows hosts of group calls to mute other users. It could help a lot in muting users who might have forgotten to mute themselves in the call. Either that or if you do not want to listen to that person at all.  

Muting people in a smaller group call could be easy but monitoring a large group (up to 32 participants) can be rather difficult. Since you can only rely on the small screens of your smartphones, there is also a limit to how many people can fit in your display. WhatsApp is making the interface much easier to work with though for larger group calls. The indicator not only helps you monitor large group calls but also alert you of late joiners to the call.  

WhatsApp is looking to transform itself from being a simple messenger service to something that users can even rely on in a corporate setting. They announced the Communities feature a few months ago and that is still on track to becoming available to every WhatsApp user by the end of the year. It is now also a video calling and audio calling tool for its users as long as they get data or internet. Even with the backlash that was their privacy policy update last year, WhatsApp is still one of the most popular mobile messenger services we have come across and is still the messenger of choice by many Malaysians. The announcements made today are mentioned on WhatsApp’s Twitter account.  

Lifestyle, Mobile, News

WhatsApp is Rolling Out “View Once” Feature – Photos and Videos Disappear on WhatsApp

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The culture of disappearing photos and videos started out from Snapchat, and shortly after, trickled down to Instagram Stories. It proved to be a great way to share videos with your friends and fans. It is a way for your fans and friends to interact with you in a sort of “live” fashion. 24 hours later the videos go missing, so if any of them missed the photo or video, they missed that part of your life.

You can now have that on WhatsApp too, sort of. The “View Once” feature was supposedly released (beta) on Android devices late in June 2021 and was just released for the iOS platform very recently. But it does not have the 24 hours lifespan like Instagram Stories or Snapchat. Rather, you can choose to send videos and photos to your friends and get it automatically deleted once the photo or video is viewed.

While it is a new feature for WhatsApp, it is not necessarily a new feature in the world of messengers. Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct Messaging have been allowing users to send one-time-use videos or photos to their friends for some time now. Similar to both of these platforms too then, you can see whether or not the recipient has already opened the media file you sent over.

Last week we mentioned that WhatsApp is planning to allow users to send videos and photos in higher quality than ever before. That feature is yet to be available on WhatsApp Beta too currently. At the same time, allowing higher resolution photos or videos to be sent via WhatsApp could also mean more storage woes thanks to WhatsApp. Disappearing media within WhatsApp chats could be one solution to that. The “View Once” feature does not prevent your recipients from doing getting a screenshot of the message though.

On that subject, “View Once” could also be seen as a privacy protection feature. Once viewed, the media gets deleted from your chats, reflected on both ends. That also means that the media will not be available anywhere else, except for the source device and, if your recipient decide to capture screen, on his/her device.

There is a bunch of updates that are lined up for WhatsApp. While platforms like Telegram and Signal are gaining in popularity when it comes to web based messaging apps, WhatsApp still holds the biggest market share and mind share in the current climate. As we have discovered in our research and discussion with a security expert as well WhatsApp, despite its ties to Facebook, is one of the most secure messenger apps in the industry.

Gaming, News

Sony Clears the Air with PS5’s Voice Recording Feature

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Sony is poised to have a blowout with their upcoming PlayStation 5 release. However, eagle eyed users have spotted a concerning “feature” in the recent PlayStation 4 firmware update. Apparently, the PlayStation systems will be recording your in-game conversations. Users were alerted to this change when PS4 systems prompted users for permission to record them when installing the recent 8.0 firmware update.

The firmware update also brings some changes to the Messages app on PlayStation 4. This includes new avatars and support for two factor authentication. Of note, is the inclusion of parental communication controls which allow parents to better curate their child’s online gaming and messaging.

In a statement on the PlayStation Blog, Vice President of Global Consumer Experience, Catherine Jensen, apologised for the way the news broke. “PlayStation gamers learned about this new function in an unexpected way following the recent PS4 8.00 system update. We didn’t clearly communicate this feature or explain why we were introducing it, and we apologize for that.” She goes on to clarify that the feature will voice chats would not be monitored or listened to on the new system. Instead, the feature will record a 40 second voice clip that will be used for user moderation in an effort to curb harassment and bullying on the platform.

With cyberbullying and harassment on online games coming to the forefront in recent years, it is understandable why Sony wants to implement this feature. However, Sony’s measures are easily bypassed as gamers also use other apps and platforms such as Discord to facilitate online communication.

In her clarification, Jensen states, “if a PS5 player needs to file a harassment report, they will be able to include up to a 40 second-long Voice Chat clip in their report — 20 seconds of the main conversation with the other player, plus an additional 10 seconds before and after the conversation selection. Only the most recent five minutes of a Voice Chat will be available for a player to use for this reporting function.” That said, the function seems to be limited to the PS5 for now and users do not have the ability to disable it.

Sony also rebranded their PS4 remote play app to PS Remote Play on the Google Play Store and Apple AppStore. Users will be able to use the app to remotely play games on your PS5 system when it launches later this year.

Editorial, Social Media

6 Simple Ways To Make WhatsApp More Secure

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WhatsApp has become one of the world’s largest messaging platforms. In fact, it’s the largest platform in Malaysia! The app is used by billions of people the world over and continues to grow even today.

Thus, it has become even more imperative that we take steps to make the platform more secure for ourselves. Here are a few simple measures you can take to make the platform that much more safe for you.

1. Take Control of Your Privacy

Did you know that you can control who is able to access and view your information? Everything from your profile picture to read receipts can be controlled from the app’s privacy settings. So, it’s pretty important that you review your settings on a regular basis to make sure everything is in order and up to date.

To access your settings, just launch your WhatsApp. Click on the hamburger menu (the three dots) on the top right; go to settings and head to account. In the account menu, you will see a menu for privacy. Here you can choose who can view your last seen, your profile picture, your status and even your about. Yes, WhatsApp has an about section. You even have the options to limit who can add you to groups. You’ll be able to choose from “Everyone”, “My Contacts” and “Nobody”.

2. Block Unwanted People

Ever since WhatsApp became a global phenomenon, we’ve had random people whom we don’t know adding us and sending us messages. Sometimes these messages can even be explicit pictures which no one asked for. While it’s impossible to not get messages from random people, you can block them if things get out of hand. Simply tap on the contact or long press the chat and you’ll get a few options, select block contact. You’ll also be provided with an option to report and block the contact.

3. Turn on Two Step Verification

Just like any other online account, WhatsApp has a two factor authentication option. For WhatsApp, this option allows you to keep prying eyes out of your account by requesting a one time pin when you log in.

Simply got to your account settings again, and head to the two step verification option and enable it.

4. Keep Track of your Account by requesting your account information

Did you know that you could request for your WhatsApp account information? Now, you do. It takes about 3 days from the day you submit your request. This option allows you to export a detailed report of your account information and settings. This includes your profile photo, group names and more.

All you have to do is head into you Account settings and click on the Request Account Info option and tap request report. In 3 days time, the information you requested will be sent to the email you have provided.

5. Turn off Read Receipts

Turning off those blue ticks will help you prevent people from tracking whether you’ve read their messages. This also allows you to dodge that person that’s been hounding you the past few weeks.

All you have to do is head into the Account settings and disable Read Receipts.

6. Delete and Report Spam

Many a time, the random messages we receive are usually people selling stuff or some Nigerian Prince with a fortune to giveaway. These unwanted spam and phishing messages pose a serious threat to your security. Once you realise that a chat is spam or a phishing message, make sure you delete and report the user to WhatsApp.

You can do this by tapping on the chat or group name, scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the Report option in red. You can also access this option when you click the three dots on the top right hand corner of your WhatsApp when your in the chat or by simply long pressing.

Once reported, WhatsApp receives the most recent messages sent to you by a reported user or group, as well as information on your recent interactions with the reported user.

While taking these steps are important, it is still best to remain vigilant and alert when you’re online. Even more so when you get random messages from unknowns. That said, don’t use privacy and security as an excuse to not keep in touch with your friends and family!