Spotted this sign on the street in Amsterdam, on my way to #PubConf2026.
Disclaimer: I donโt speak Dutch, but Iโd like to think it says: โBeware WhatsApp steals your dataโ ๐
Spotted this sign on the street in Amsterdam, on my way to #PubConf2026.
Disclaimer: I donโt speak Dutch, but Iโd like to think it says: โBeware WhatsApp steals your dataโ ๐
Francis Cook
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •frank goossens ๐ง๐ช๐ช๐บ
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Sylvia
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Paul - Antifa. LGBTQ+ safe.
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Hahaha!
In fact it says "Whatsapp neighbourhood prevention".
People here use it to keep each other update on suspicious things and characters.
Kerfuffle
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Andy Carolan
Unknown parent • • •ekes
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Through the years those signs continue to amuse me everytime.
It's supposed to be a sort of 'neighbourhood watch' connected by WhatsApp. Literally translated though it's: WhatsApp Neighbourhood Prevention. And as all things Meta are anti-social I agree.
AT
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •padeluun โ
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •The sign indicates that residents in this area have set up a WhatsApp group to share information about suspicious activities, burglaries, vandalism, or other safety-related incidents.
The Dutch term โbuurtpreventieโ literally means โneighborhood preventionโ and is commonly used for neighborhood watch initiatives. Such WhatsApp neighborhood watch groups are particularly widespread in the Netherlands. They are often organized by local residents and sometimes operate in cooperation with the police or the municipality.
The purpose of the sign is mainly deterrence: it signals to potential offenders that residents are alert and can quickly communicate with one another.
From a privacy and civil liberties perspective, these groups are sometimes criticized because they can:
* encourage hasty suspicions,
* lead to profiling based on appearance or background,
* promote informal surveillance structures,
* depend on the use of a Meta-owned service (WhatsApp).
Thiago Ferrer Morini
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Alexandra
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •MetalMartijn [NL]
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •notsoloud
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •fishhead_125
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Grey Pilgrim
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •Elric
in reply to Elena Rossini ๐ • • •