4 ms·

> "Facebook messenger doesn't require a facebook account!" which I don't understand. You can actually sign up for a Messenger account independently of a Facebo

> "Facebook messenger doesn't require a facebook account!" which I don't understand. You can actually sign up for a Messenger account independently of a Facebook account. However, this doesn't seem to be well supported. There is no way that I can tell to delete a Messenger-only account, or to remove contacts that were automatically uploaded from your phone.

jimmies 9y ago
Bad news for you: when you use Messenger without a Facebook account, Facebook still makes a Facebook account for you. It's just invisible to you and maybe they don't want you to have the impression that it is, indeed, just a Facebook account. I could trigger Messenger to log in to your shadow Facebook account. It will work mostly like a regular account with the exception you (mostly) can't interact with your friends. I reported it as a security bug last year. Somehow after I reported it, the app doesn't do it anymore. Fb security took another 6 months to discard it as a security bug. I was too disappointed by how much they cared, so I don't even bother to make a blog post about that. I trust both Facebook and Facebook security less after working with them. I don't have a Messenger only account anymore (but then, my Messenger-only account was never deleted). But do they care? Probably not. Do I care? Maybe - but what can I do about it? Here is the draft that I wrote up but didn't publish about the experience: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSa-LjM5IzyTWJuD1rDj6H9v0gBafi_cNZ7zQZkbpwDf6qIzXXv3jutgfLcDF6jpLfk7CaJKgtLGy5H/pub https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSa-LjM5IzyTWJuD...
- politician 9y ago
  > but what can I do about it? Obtain a visa to an EU country and/or sell your account to an EU citizen after May 25, so that they can either file a "right to be forgotten" request under the GDPR, or, generally, engage their "right of a Data Subject to withdraw consent" for personal data to be held against the account.
  - gehwartzen 9y ago
    Does such a request only apply to any data collected during the time while in the EU or all previous data as well? I.e. Could you fly to Europe for a day, put in the request, have my data removed, and fly back?
    - efdee 9y ago
      You need to be an EU citizen.
      - gehwartzen 9y ago
        Thanks. I am a EU citizen (dual German + US) but live in the US. My understanding from reading into it a little bit is that it doesn't automatically apply to me while I live in the US but would if I traveled to europe. I guess some of the nuts and bolts will become clear as things get enforced after May. Either way this is by far one of the most exciting reasons I've encountered to still have my original citizenship!
        politician 9y ago
        Nope, GDPR still applies to you to any country where you travel! Now, the downside is that small, local companies probably won't care about the GDPR. However, you buy soap (and everything else) from multinationals with European operations -- and crucially, bank accounts.
natestemen 9y ago
yup definitely not well supported. I've had a messenger account without facebook for a few years now and the biggest thing that is not supported is that i cannot use the messenger website. it just wont let me log in. have searched online and cant find anything which leads me to believe that no one really does this.

jimmies 9y ago

Bad news for you: when you use Messenger without a Facebook account, Facebook still makes a Facebook account for you. It's just invisible to you and maybe they don't want you to have the impression that it is, indeed, just a Facebook account. I could trigger Messenger to log in to your shadow Facebook account. It will work mostly like a regular account with the exception you (mostly) can't interact with your friends. I reported it as a security bug last year. Somehow after I reported it, the app doesn't do it anymore. Fb security took another 6 months to discard it as a security bug. I was too disappointed by how much they cared, so I don't even bother to make a blog post about that. I trust both Facebook and Facebook security less after working with them. I don't have a Messenger only account anymore (but then, my Messenger-only account was never deleted). But do they care? Probably not. Do I care? Maybe - but what can I do about it? Here is the draft that I wrote up but didn't publish about the experience: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSa-LjM5IzyTWJuD1rDj6H9v0gBafi_cNZ7zQZkbpwDf6qIzXXv3jutgfLcDF6jpLfk7CaJKgtLGy5H/pub https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSa-LjM5IzyTWJuD...

politician 9y ago
> but what can I do about it? Obtain a visa to an EU country and/or sell your account to an EU citizen after May 25, so that they can either file a "right to be forgotten" request under the GDPR, or, generally, engage their "right of a Data Subject to withdraw consent" for personal data to be held against the account.
- gehwartzen 9y ago
  Does such a request only apply to any data collected during the time while in the EU or all previous data as well? I.e. Could you fly to Europe for a day, put in the request, have my data removed, and fly back?
  - efdee 9y ago
    You need to be an EU citizen.
    - gehwartzen 9y ago
      Thanks. I am a EU citizen (dual German + US) but live in the US. My understanding from reading into it a little bit is that it doesn't automatically apply to me while I live in the US but would if I traveled to europe. I guess some of the nuts and bolts will become clear as things get enforced after May. Either way this is by far one of the most exciting reasons I've encountered to still have my original citizenship!
      - politician 9y ago
        Nope, GDPR still applies to you to any country where you travel! Now, the downside is that small, local companies probably won't care about the GDPR. However, you buy soap (and everything else) from multinationals with European operations -- and crucially, bank accounts.

natestemen 9y ago

yup definitely not well supported. I've had a messenger account without facebook for a few years now and the biggest thing that is not supported is that i cannot use the messenger website. it just wont let me log in. have searched online and cant find anything which leads me to believe that no one really does this.