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Comment by knallfrosch | Hacker News Reader

1. Meta can read the metadata perfectly well (who communicates with whom and when), which is enough for ads. 2. Meta doesn't want to be able to read messages, since it's a PR nightmare when doing so. Case: Ordered to do so by a government agency. People could switch to Signal. 3. Data isn't readable "in transit", since it's encrypted with HTTPS. Only Facebook servers could read it if they wanted.

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As long as they control the client any kind of government order is still a problem for them.

However it does make it a bit more difficult for them to spy on a conversation, which is arguably a good thing.

What use is the metadata for ads?

Top of my head:

* Who are you messaging most (best friends, family). If they like stuff, you might like the same stuff.

* When are you messaging people (awake time > profiling)

* Messaging companies (obvious, what are you into)

Also: Where are you messaging

You clicked an ad about Product X, you're messaging your friend B from a store that sells Product X

-> Serve ads about Product X to B.

If two of your recipients interacted with a certain ad, there's a chance you have similar interests.

Combine this with the frequency of your chatting and your location (at least based on ip) and the other little bits of stuff users give about themselves, Meta doesn't really need to know specifically what the contents of your messages are.

In the mass of their users, an informer smart guess is more than enough.

You make a post looking for a plumber, you spend time chatting with people who are plumbers in their profile - you are interested in plumbers

Example: Went to the dentist, and the clinic messaged me a confirmation message via whatsapp. Next day, I got several ads for orthodontic braces.

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