A screenshot of my Android notification centre, showing an unsolicited WhatsApp message from Amazon, advertising their Black Friday deals. I checked and it is very much legitimate.
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[–] 2 points 11 months ago (3 children)

They can't send messages out of the blue, you have to contact the company via whatsapp first, after which they have a 24 hour window to reply. Marketing messages are opt in.

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  • [–] 8 points 11 months ago*

    I guess that's part of WhatsApp's terms of service. Good to know, thanks.

    Either way, my dislike for corporations using closed platforms still stands. I really wish we had some modern, secure and featureful version of SMS - a federated direct messaging system that everyone was on, and yet nobody owned.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

    I had one of these marketing messages from Amazon this morning. I've never contacted them through WhatsApp, and as far as I can remember, have never contacted them outside of their apps. I definitely haven't contacted them with my phone number.

    They have my phone number, but it's supposed to be for delivery issues, and I've withdrawn all advertising and marketing consent.

    EDIT: I just checked, and I was automatically opted in to WhatsApp marketing, despite having turned off all other marketing 😤

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