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I had the strangest interaction with the Messenger app a few months ago. I was spending time with friends, and I took a few pictures of all of us (didn't send

I had the strangest interaction with the Messenger app a few months ago. I was spending time with friends, and I took a few pictures of all of us (didn't send them through either FB or Messenger). A few hours later, messenger popped up a notification telling me something along the lines of "Hey, I see you took pictures today of <friend>. Want to send them to her?" Made me feel incredibly creeped out that FB would take my photos and (presumably upload and) analyze them even when I hadn't given them to FB.

patrickbolle 10y ago
were they just stored on your phone ?
- mosquito242 10y ago
  yep.
fiatjaf 10y ago
Try getting pictures downloaded from other sources directly to your phone and see if Facebook prompts you the same. Try getting pictures of other people and see if Facebook suggests them to be added as your friends.
- Tenn 10y ago
  >Try getting pictures of other people and see if Facebook suggests them to be added as your friends. That's a whole new level of stalking people right there.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
chinathrow 10y ago
If that is how it went down, that alone is a base for another lawsuit.
onewaystreet 10y ago
It's called Photo Magic: "By recognizing your Facebook friends in the photos you take (just like when tagging or sharing photos on Facebook), Messenger can create a group thread for you to share the photos with those friends in just two taps." https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/12/messenger-adds-new-features-for-sharing-during-the-holidays/ https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/12/messenger-adds-new-feat... http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/9/9696760/facebook-messenger-photo-sharing-face-recognition http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/9/9696760/facebook-messenger... You can opt-out by turning off tagging suggestions: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline&section=suggestions&view https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline&section=sugge...
- chinathrow 10y ago
  That should be opt-in. What a fucked up feature. Edit: I don't give any of my friends consent to use that feature - yet the would still scan my face. How can this even be legal.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    Lax data privacy laws in the US (compared to Europe). Lobby your congressperson to fix it.
    - jgalt212 10y ago
      Congress is broke and the tech companies know it and optimize against this and will continue to make hay while the sun shines (i.e. before the US produces any effective consumer privacy legislation).
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        It doesn't cost anything to enact legislation. Congress is a sunk cost.
        Spooky23 10y ago
notliketherest 10y ago
People also use to think putting hour real name on the internet was creepy. Little by little the privacy erosion has brought us where we are today - standing naked in front of a corporate monster profiting off our data.
- maaku 10y ago
  So invent an open-source federated server with deep learning capabilities that can do this and keep us in charge of our data.
  - mattnewton 10y ago
    I'm not sure anyone would pay for this feature to use themselves; to me it seems to exist as a side effect of searching for better advertising
    - maaku 10y ago
      > I'm not sure anyone would pay for this feature to use themselves I said open-source.
cpach 10y ago
That’s quite disturbing. Was it on iOS or Android?
Propen 10y ago
Are these kind of things possible with WhatsApp? (on iOS specifically, and now that it even uses e2e) I don't know if I should trust them with Facebook being behind the wheel...
AckSyn 10y ago
Deny the application permission to access your camera, photos, and contacts. That's a start.
awqrre 10y ago
Creeped out that FB used the permissions that you gave them? I am guilty too, those permissions are too wide...
thiht 10y ago
Wow I never heard of that before, that's insane... The worst thing is you can't "boycott" the app because even if you don't use it but your friends do, the pictures of you WILL be analyzed. Even if you explicitly refused their ToS...

patrickbolle 10y ago

were they just stored on your phone ?

mosquito242 10y ago
yep.

fiatjaf 10y ago

Try getting pictures downloaded from other sources directly to your phone and see if Facebook prompts you the same. Try getting pictures of other people and see if Facebook suggests them to be added as your friends.

Tenn 10y ago
>Try getting pictures of other people and see if Facebook suggests them to be added as your friends. That's a whole new level of stalking people right there.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

chinathrow 10y ago

If that is how it went down, that alone is a base for another lawsuit.

onewaystreet 10y ago

It's called Photo Magic: "By recognizing your Facebook friends in the photos you take (just like when tagging or sharing photos on Facebook), Messenger can create a group thread for you to share the photos with those friends in just two taps." https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/12/messenger-adds-new-features-for-sharing-during-the-holidays/ https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/12/messenger-adds-new-feat... http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/9/9696760/facebook-messenger-photo-sharing-face-recognition http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/9/9696760/facebook-messenger... You can opt-out by turning off tagging suggestions: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline&section=suggestions&view https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline&section=sugge...

chinathrow 10y ago
That should be opt-in. What a fucked up feature. Edit: I don't give any of my friends consent to use that feature - yet the would still scan my face. How can this even be legal.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  Lax data privacy laws in the US (compared to Europe). Lobby your congressperson to fix it.
  - jgalt212 10y ago
    Congress is broke and the tech companies know it and optimize against this and will continue to make hay while the sun shines (i.e. before the US produces any effective consumer privacy legislation).
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      It doesn't cost anything to enact legislation. Congress is a sunk cost.
      - Spooky23 10y ago

notliketherest 10y ago

People also use to think putting hour real name on the internet was creepy. Little by little the privacy erosion has brought us where we are today - standing naked in front of a corporate monster profiting off our data.

maaku 10y ago
So invent an open-source federated server with deep learning capabilities that can do this and keep us in charge of our data.
- mattnewton 10y ago
  I'm not sure anyone would pay for this feature to use themselves; to me it seems to exist as a side effect of searching for better advertising
  - maaku 10y ago
    > I'm not sure anyone would pay for this feature to use themselves I said open-source.

cpach 10y ago

That’s quite disturbing. Was it on iOS or Android?

Propen 10y ago

Are these kind of things possible with WhatsApp? (on iOS specifically, and now that it even uses e2e) I don't know if I should trust them with Facebook being behind the wheel...

AckSyn 10y ago

Deny the application permission to access your camera, photos, and contacts. That's a start.

awqrre 10y ago

Creeped out that FB used the permissions that you gave them? I am guilty too, those permissions are too wide...

thiht 10y ago

Wow I never heard of that before, that's insane... The worst thing is you can't "boycott" the app because even if you don't use it but your friends do, the pictures of you WILL be analyzed. Even if you explicitly refused their ToS...