WhatsApp Groups And GDPR

Last Caress · January 29, 2020, 06:20:43 PM

So any thoughts on this? Used heavily in our club as a form of communication to members
https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2020/0128/1111512-gaa-urges-clubs-to-avoid-whatsapp-due-to-gdpr-concerns/

Ty4Sam · January 29, 2020, 08:19:07 PM

Surely when people sign up to WhatsApp they have to agree to allowing their phone number and profile photo to be used? It's going to be very difficult to stop people using it as its a simple, free, effective tool. It will be interesting to see what the GAA communications app is like, if it's not simple, easy to use and offers a 'group chat' function it simply won't work. If it's an extension of the servasport text service whereby you have to buy credits to send texts they may just knock it on the head now.

Rudi · January 29, 2020, 09:26:12 PM

We have the new Gaa app for registration, club notes and communication to relevant age groups up and running at our club. Communication is one way, so if parents have to confirm childs attendance at games, it's done via private what's app or old fashioned text message.
What's app can be dodgy in the wrong hands, I have heard some horror stories of U8 parents sent pictures meant for wives, husbands, you get the picture.

Itchy · January 29, 2020, 10:17:43 PM

WhatsApp can be set up to be one way communication. This gdpr is a load of shite

Kingdom37 · January 29, 2020, 10:30:29 PM

Quote from: Rudi on January 29, 2020, 09:26:12 PM
We have the new Gaa app for registration, club notes and communication to relevant age groups up and running at our club. Communication is one way, so if parents have to confirm childs attendance at games, it's done via private what's app or old fashioned text message.
What's app can be dodgy in the wrong hands, I have heard some horror stories of U8 parents sent pictures meant for wives, husbands, you get the picture.

Or the Westmeath physio sending a picture of his crotch to the team WhatsApp group 🤣🤣🤣

thewobbler · January 29, 2020, 11:34:40 PM

This all baffles me.

I ran a minor team before mobile phones. I ran senior and reserve teams before IM/group chat. And it was soul destroying stuff. Never knowing who was turning up until they turned up. Fielding dozens of calls to the house phone when there was heavy rain. Standing for an hour around the ground when a game was cancelled at short notice, to let the players know. Going to hospital with a player and not having a clue how to get the word out to family. Hanging around at the end of training for young fellas waiting on their lifts. It was of its time, but it was genuinely crap.

We've now arrived at a point where all these problems are in the past. And people wang to return there. It's insanity.

——

The biggest gripe I have though is the stories about how "one of the mentors posted something inappropriate and everyone saw it it."

Well here's the thing, I've offended dozens of people in a room with my tongue, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident. I've witnessed countless other people doing the same thing.

At no time has anyone ever suggested cutting people's tongues out. Because we wouldn't want their primary communication channel to be cut off for a mistake. Or even for a deliberately offensive tirade. We have learned to accept this as people. Communication is a basic right.

In terms of uptake, WhatsApp is the second most important and prolific communication channel ever created. And with mass uptake comes occasional unpleasantness. No different to how the car changed the world forever, along with a byproduct of RTAs, and deaths - we just have to learn to put up with the occasional anguish for the massive advantages WhatsApp brings.

——

The GAA app will fail because it will not provide the functionality needed to communicate properly, and it will have too many barriers to entry for the universal uptake required to even consider taking on WhatsApp.

This is the easiest prediction anyone will ever make. There is no need for it. The technology will not be as strong as the competition. The interfaces will be unnecessarily complex because the entire concept is counter intuitive. It will fail miserably.

This money could have been put to such better use too.

ardtole · January 30, 2020, 07:57:52 AM

Hit the nail on the head there wobbler.

tonto1888 · January 30, 2020, 08:07:33 AM

Great post wobbler

Square Ball · January 30, 2020, 08:24:03 AM

Unless it's better than last year the App isn't fit for purpose. Try registering people on it, easy....no not really. OK when just one person, but 2 kids in the one family that's a different proposition altogether. That's why we will be sticking with Klub Funder

Taylor · January 30, 2020, 08:57:58 AM

Great post wobbler.

Just waiting for the 'but...but....but' brigade to come along

Hereiam · January 30, 2020, 09:12:17 AM

Totally agree wobbler

Itchy · January 30, 2020, 09:27:28 AM

One of the biggest laughs about this is that they cannot even get their own county boards weened of whatsapp. Where I live all the county board sub committees, all the regional coaches and underage team managers are all using WHatsapp.

However, if you are interested in an alternative. "Teamer" is a very decent one. Of course you will have to beg every parent to install it and pay attention to it, but that is another story.

GetOverTheBar · January 30, 2020, 09:27:39 AM

The GAA have some nerve on them, can't use a free, exceptional communication tool now they recommend.

And they wonder why people are turning off the game reading this type of nonsense. If it's good enough for professional sports, it'll be good enough for us, with all due respect.

thewobbler · January 30, 2020, 10:41:02 AM

Quote from: the_daddy on January 30, 2020, 10:22:14 AM
The GAA app is grand for 1 way communication but has no group chat capability so that's not going to work for a team situation. However, regardless of the 'but but but' there is a legitimate point. The problem with Whatsapp is that there is no 'opt-in' element to the group chat, you have to 'opt-out'. If you're added to a group you have no control over who sees / has access to your number, even after you opt out, which is a legitimate GDPR concern. Maybe something like Telegram where you're sent a link to join a chat, so you have to opt-in and use a nickname may be more suitable for team/group/committee information purposes.

This is very much a problem of the first world variety.

GDPR was designed to prevent organisations hoarding your data for their own use. It wasn't designed to prevent people from having conversations. There might be some crossover and greyness between the two, but genuinely this only becomes complicated if you want it to.

If a club mentor wants to add someone to a group chat focused on club activities, he should ask the person first. While the data relationship is between each user and WhatsApp, this approach should help everyone understand that it's not a free for all group.

If John Smith doesn't want to be involved in the group chat, John Smith can then decline that offer, or subsequently leave the group chat if it's not for him.

If Joan Smith doesn't want her phone number to be visible to strangers, she should probably consider leaving WhatsApp, or at least masking her identity on the platform, and nailing down her privacy settings. She can then, if she likes, move to another platform where the lack of a unique identifier (phone number) means that anyone prone to stalking can hide under the veil of multiple anonymous accounts and logins, and be much more difficult to identify.

If Juan Smith posts something inappropriate to a group, he gets a yellow card from the admin. 2-3 strikes and he's out of the group.

If Joanne Smith would prefer text messages or phone calls instead of any form of digital chat, then she should bring that forward to the lead mentor. I'm sure most people will facilitate such a request.

Commonsense folks. It's all that's needed.

square_ball · January 30, 2020, 10:41:35 AM

Quote from: the_daddy on January 30, 2020, 10:22:14 AM
The GAA app is grand for 1 way communication but has no group chat capability so that's not going to work for a team situation. However, regardless of the 'but but but' there is a legitimate point. The problem with Whatsapp is that there is no 'opt-in' element to the group chat, you have to 'opt-out'. If you're added to a group you have no control over who sees / has access to your number, even after you opt out, which is a legitimate GDPR concern. Maybe something like Telegram where you're sent a link to join a chat, so you have to opt-in and use a nickname may be more suitable for team/group/committee information purposes.

Would a simple opt in or opt out line regarding WhatsApp groups when paying your membership not suffice? Not up to date at all on GDPR so maybe it wouldn't?