5 ms·

Not “all kinds”. Users routinely approve the use of their friends list, and in this case, this is what was downloaded and data mined, in addition to user’s own

Not “all kinds”. Users routinely approve the use of their friends list, and in this case, this is what was downloaded and data mined, in addition to user’s own profile information. I know this is too much nuance for a lay person to handle, but I expect more from HN readers. The scummy part was that the data was obtained using an app that’s unrelated to what the data was eventually used for, but Android is totally ripe for that as well.

untog 9y ago
"all kinds" isn't exactly a scientifically defined term. Friends list an "profile information" is still very broad. The additional scummy part was that you could authorize FB to download that data for your friends as well as yourself, so your data might be consumed without you ever being aware of, or giving permission for it. As far as I'm aware Android has no such equivalent.
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  >> could authorize FB to download that data for your friends I don’t believe this is true. You could authorize apps to download a very limited amount of info about your friends. If you have a reference to some authoritative source that proves the opposite, do share. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and all that.
  - untog 9y ago
    They definitely did. That's a core part of the current controversy, I shouldn't have to dig up the evidence to prove this to you. The docs are on archive.org somewhere, but this TechCrunch article was more easily found, and covers the details: https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/28/facebook-api-shut-down/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/28/facebook-api-shut-down/ You used to be able to provide access to your friends photos, checkins, posts and more besides.
    - gtremper 9y ago
      Did it include information about a user's friends that the user themself didn't have access to? I think one can see one's friend's photos, checkins, and posts, so it makes sense that you would be able to forward that information (not that you should...). I think the grandparent was claiming that you weren't able to share any information about friends that you didn't already have access to.

untog 9y ago

"all kinds" isn't exactly a scientifically defined term. Friends list an "profile information" is still very broad. The additional scummy part was that you could authorize FB to download that data for your friends as well as yourself, so your data might be consumed without you ever being aware of, or giving permission for it. As far as I'm aware Android has no such equivalent.

throwaway84742 9y ago
>> could authorize FB to download that data for your friends I don’t believe this is true. You could authorize apps to download a very limited amount of info about your friends. If you have a reference to some authoritative source that proves the opposite, do share. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and all that.
- untog 9y ago
  They definitely did. That's a core part of the current controversy, I shouldn't have to dig up the evidence to prove this to you. The docs are on archive.org somewhere, but this TechCrunch article was more easily found, and covers the details: https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/28/facebook-api-shut-down/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/28/facebook-api-shut-down/ You used to be able to provide access to your friends photos, checkins, posts and more besides.
  - gtremper 9y ago
    Did it include information about a user's friends that the user themself didn't have access to? I think one can see one's friend's photos, checkins, and posts, so it makes sense that you would be able to forward that information (not that you should...). I think the grandparent was claiming that you weren't able to share any information about friends that you didn't already have access to.