Is WeChat safe to use in the US?

Zerlyna@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 46 points –

Edit: to clarify, is it going to scan my phone for credit card info and contacts etc.

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https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.tencent.mm/latest/

It requires 71 permissions, which is pretty much full access to your device.

This is a huge red flag. Unless they have a strong reason to believe otherwise no one should ever install an app with permissions like that.

Isn't WeChat the app that is used for everything in China? It's not just a communication app. So yes, there is more than one reason for it. A lot of its probably required to perform so many functions, but also they are collecting everything on you too.

Yeah it does quite literally everything, so the permissions make a bit more sense. For me, living in China, I'd be crippled not having it. I use it to book travel, pay bills, talk, register for services, book a doctor's appointment, pay for goods, use it as a login for other apps. The list goes on ad infinitum. If you're using it as a chat app, you're paying Ferrari price (in user data) for an electric scooter.

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