Facebook Admits Collecting Phone Calls And Texts From People's Phones, But Claims It Had Consent

[workinclasszero]

Facebook Admits Collecting Phone Calls And Texts From People's Phones, But Claims It Had Consent
ANDREW GRIFFIN 4 hours ago

Facebook has made clear that it harvests data on people's phone calls and text messages.

But it says that people consented to having that information collected, and that it was only used to "provide you with a better experience across Facebook".

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, many have looked into the data that is being collected by Facebook, which can be done by downloading the company's file on you from its website. As they did so, some users picked through the data and found something shocking: that it contained a long list of the messages they had sent and phone calls they had made, in some cases going back years.

Facebook has now confirmed that the data is being collected. But it has disputed much of the reporting and says that the feature isn't being used for spying, only to learn more about its users.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-cambridge-analytica-data-my-download-phone-calls-text-messages-contacts-history-a8274211.html

[jberryhill]

1. isn't being used for spying, only to learn more about its users.

Oh, okay. That's completely different.

[workinclasszero]

9. Yeah

Oh and his pals Mercer and Bannon were using that info too.

Zuckerburg forgot to mention that little fact!

[exboyfil]

10. Seems like the definition of spying

Another rough week for Facebook. I want to see what subsection d of section 8 of clause 4 permission was given to read and listen into our private communications.

[RandomAccess]

19. A difference without a distinction

[jberryhill]

20. I don't even see the difference, let alone the distinction they were trying to make

[blake2012]

2. Fuck you, Facebook. You were being as dirty as you could get away with. Stiff fines and regulation

ought to cure you of your dumbfuckery spying on your users for third parties, assholes.

[IluvPitties]

5. Facebook needs to collapse, and social media needs to be revised.

We can't give up our right to privacy for mere convenience!

[democratisphere]

3. fakebook is a super badass corrupt corporation that knows no boundaries

when it comes to diseminating propaganda and ignoring subscriber privacy.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Phone calls?

Wait a minute... when and where did we give them permission to gather info on our phone calls... and how do you turn it off (short of deleting Facebook altogether)?

[blake2012]

8. to be on the safe side, delete FB now. How many times do we have to hear Zuckerberg

whining that he made mistakes and he'll do better only to find he does 10 times worse? Fuck that assclown. He gets no more money via my account. I deleted early last week.

[Fred Sanders]

12. That is the thing. Zucker has a track record of promising to protect privacy but never does.

Knowing that I never on FB or any social media...none of them have adequate privacy policies or protections.

And apps are data mining goldmines because folks do not read the privacy policies, or lack of...some get your consent to turn your camera on and you may not even realize you agree.

There needs to be massive regulation, clearly, and not just Faceplant.

[workinclasszero]

11. Delete it IMO

You and all your family and friends will be spied on by Facebook, one way or another.

[Blue_Adept]

18. If you installed the messenger app, you did confirm it

It interacted directly with how you used your phone in terms of contacts and blended your FB contact list with your phone contact list.

There were lots of articles when Messenger first came out about this and why a lot of people (like myself) never installed it.

[dalton99a]

6. Message: "We care. Tell us EVERYTHING about you

and EVERYTHING you do, and what you think, EVERY DAY"

[lame54]

7. Doesn't one spy to learn more about someone?

[jberryhill]

16. No, no, no, not at all

They were surreptitiously obtaining information on people in order to learn more about them.

Spying, on the other hand is when, um, I think you have to wear a really nice suit or something. Oh, and have a gun.

[Angry Dragon]

13. Sounds like spying to me

[barbtries]

14. well that answers that.

wow.
i was texting my dogsitter and next thing you know i'm looking at ads for dogsitters. i thought i was cooking up a fucking conspiracy theory in my own head!
motherfuckers.

on the bright side, i'm not crazy.

[jberryhill]

17. That does not actually prove you are not crazy

You could still be crazy. Just not about this.

[barbtries]

21. oh no!

this was the ONLY thing i've ever doubted my sanity over, ever. not.

[SonofDonald]

15. Now I want to look at my fb file

To see what's in there, they have never had my cellphone number, the number they do have is from 15 years ago and is used for all my online sites, I've always thought that it's none of their business so they don't get it, besides why would they need it?.

I deleted everything from my fb page over a year ago when we first found out about Russian ads/memes flooding the site.

All pics, likes, music, books, the works, even my birthday and such, I know it worked somewhat as they notified all my friends that it was my birthday two months early on the wrong day of the month.

And the fact that I no longer get any links to things I should "like", not a one in over a year so something worked out for me not them.

After reading about the Russian rat fudging going on there I realized that all the information including email, birthdate, hometown, parents maiden names, pet names, phone number, etc, etc...was on my page.

All you would need to know to try to hack into any website I subscribed to and pretend to be me.

I changed all my passwords on the net to something not remotely connected to my life and dumped everyone on my friends list who wasn't family or lifelong friends.

Haven't had a problem since, I am still on fb but only visit once a month, my Mother is 83 and doing fine but someday I will need to keep family informed about her and fb makes it easier at the moment.

But I will be setting up another way to do so and dump fb by the end of the year.

Screw them, they had their chance.

[Skittles]

22. WHEN are people going to understand

FB "rules" and "settings" MEAN NOTHING - the entire point of FB was to COLLECT INFORMATION THEY COULD USE TO MAKE MONEY - I'm sure they never guessed in their wildest dreams how easy it was to make people give it all up