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When you install the Facebook app on your phone it requires permission to read your contacts, call log, location, accounts, and application data. Is this true?
by tjr 13y ago
When you install the Facebook app on your phone it requires permission to read your contacts, call log, location, accounts, and application data.
Is this true?
- BlackDeath3 13y agoGood thing deleting the pre-installed Facebook application (if it's ever been used at all it was inadvertently) off of my Android phone is quick and easy, and doesn't require root access! EDIT: This is why we need sarcasm tags. No, I have not actually been able to remove my Facebook application.
- mcintyre1994 13y agoHow? Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, ICS, locked to my carrier, unrootable. I've been wanting to get rid of it ever since the phone started running out of space all the time, app info gives no option to remove it. Is this a case of my manufacturer/carrier are more annoying than yours, or am I really missing something?
- BlackDeath3 13y agoI was being sarcastic. I'll probably never rid myself of the damn thing.
- mcintyre1994 13y agoDammit, it's really easy on my rooted Touchpad, but this thing's horrible for it. It'd be fine if it had storage space, but nope.
- shocks 13y agoYou can "disable" it through the Applications menu under Settings.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- mcintyre1994 13y agoI had to uninstall updates (the option where disable normally is), and then I could go and disable it, weird. Thanks though, disabled and uses about 1/6 of the space of the updated one :)
- shocks 13y agoExcellent. :) It's not the best solution, the best solution would be the ability to uninstall it completely, but it's better than nothing.
- kamjam 13y agoI was able to root my Arc S (but UK model/unlocked). I seem to recall using this method, but would need look on my PC for the files i used to verify... http://theunlockr.com/2012/10/09/how-to-root-the-sony-xperia-arc-x12/ http://theunlockr.com/2012/10/09/how-to-root-the-sony-xperia...
- reginaldjcooper 13y agoI always have a chuckle when Android users say it's open source and free. iPhone is worse, of course, but still. We all really need an actual FOSS phone that is liberated from the carriers. Maybe Canonical's (modulo Amazon results when searching contacts).
- aestra 13y agoI jumped for joy when my new phone didn't come with preinstalled facebook!
- wnevets 13y agoyes, the facebook android app requires about 20 other permissions
- vaadu 13y agoFirst thing to do on an Android is to go under settings/apps/All and disable the privacy parasites such as the facebook apps(4) and google+.
- joering2 13y agoBut aren't you doing this AFTER you install the app? Which defies the purpose because by the time you turn it off, all your data is transferred.
- ambrop7 13y agoAnyone knows if the preinstalled FB application sends anything to FB even if you've never used it?
- estel 13y agoTheoretically it could, definitely. I don't know if anyone's done the packet sniffing for it.
- king_jester 13y agoIf you are disabling the app in the Applications menu in Settings, the process for that app will not be able launch while disabled, so FB won't be able to collect anything.
- mh- 13y agoon Android, yes
- myko 13y agoIt no longer asks for these things on iOS?
- mh- 13y agoiOS doesn't allow access to most of the items listed. Others are prompt-based and can be disabled/prevented by the user in the iOS privacy settings. http://0.tqn.com/d/ipod/1/0/S/O/-/-/ios-6-privacy.jpg http://0.tqn.com/d/ipod/1/0/S/O/-/-/ios-6-privacy.jpg
- RexRollman 13y agoI use iOS, and don't use Facebook, but you can't selectively disallow Facebook access to things like the address book? It's all or nothing?
- cookingwithrye 13y agoThe lack of fine-grained permissions per app is Android's fault, not Facebook's (not that they aren't benefiting). Android application manifests means that if even just one user of your app might want to use a feature that requires elevated permissions, your entire app must be given these permissions for all users at installation time. Which is obviously a huge security issue. What if I want to use the Facebook app but deny it permission to my address book? Not possible out of the box. E.g. There's a feature to see if any of your phone contacts already have Facebook accounts. To service the potential people that wants this feature to work so they can easily "friend" these people on Facebook, the app must have this permission for everyone who installs it.
- RexRollman 13y agoThanks for the reply. I appreciate the info.
- 13y ago
- dreamfactory 13y agoEven better, it updates your contact book email addresses to facebook domain ones.
- kamjam 13y agoThey had to do that for national security purposes, and you know, the children. </sarc> And yeah, that was very sad. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57464415-93/facebook-e-mail-mess-address-books-altered-e-mail-lost/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57464415-93/facebook-e-mail... I never sync Facebook/my contacts, but I do wonder if they steal this info anyway... most likely is my guess, but that's just me being a cynic.
- Tichy 13y agoYes
- deltaqueue 13y agoYes, but this shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone that uses Facebook and Android. You can arrange to have contacts synced in Android so that you can see updates / photos / phone numbers merged with your Google contacts. NSA access notwithstanding, Facebook is in the business of making it easier to interact and socialize with people. Alternatively, you can use the app "Tinfoil" for Facebook, which is essentially a locked-down web browser that provides a watered down Facebook experience.