Wednesday, 17 October, 2018
  • Science
  • Facebook denies logging users' calls, texts without permission

Facebook denies logging users' calls, texts without permission

Facebook displayed this message on phones which enabled the company to store users call and text history SUPPLIED Facebook displayed this message on phones which enabled the company to store users call and text history
Doris Mccormick | 26 March, 2018, 02:26

A social media user, Dylan McKay from New Zealand, downloaded his Facebook archive and was shocked to discover that almost two years' worth of call and text logs from his Android phone were included. Some users downloaded their personal data files from the platform to find Facebook had collected data spanning months to years. But Facebook was already doing this surreptitiously on some Android devices until October 2017, exploiting the way an older Android API handled permissions.

"Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people using Messenger". When the feature is enabled, the feature allows Facebook to see when a call or text was sent or received, the company said. Those affected by the seemingly non-consensual data collection appear to be those who have opted to permit Facebook to suggest new friends based on phone numbers stored in the address book.

As Facebook struggles to talk its way out of Cambridge Analytica's data harvesting reveal, this revelation could not have come at a worse time.

When a user's download of his Facebook data yielded a pretty comprehensive look at his call logs and SMS, eyebrows were raised regarding Facebook's transparency about its level of access.

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Facebook says the data was used only from Android phones. According to Ars, Facebook's permission requests have been made more explicit in recent versions of certain apps, detailing that call logs and SMS records are included.

If you granted permission to read contacts during Facebook's installation on Android a few versions ago-specifically before Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)-that permission also granted Facebook access to call and message logs by default.

Facebook said the feature doesn't collect the contents of calls or texts, and information collected isn't sold to third parties. And you may want to examine the rest of what can be found in the downloadable Facebook archive, as it includes all the advertisers that Facebook has shared your contact information with, among other things.

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