Facebook admitted officially on Monday that the Facebook and Messenger apps collect details on the calls a user makes and SMS those are sent through a phone. Anyways the company claimed that they do it only after an explicit confirmation from the users. The company stated that it collects details of every call one make and every SMS one sends and then sends them to Facebook servers where they are stored.
Facebook claimed to do so to improve the user’s experience, which is not considered to be a strong reason to do so. Though they claimed that they did not do it without a permission from the users, rather the users had their privacy settings on to allow it.
To look into the previous incidents, a quiz app collected data from 50 million Facebook profiles which were sent over to Cambridge Analytica, which was allegedly used for President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
Though Mark Zuckerberg apologized regarding the matter on full-page ads in seven British newspaper and three American newspaper on Sunday, it is an eye-opener for everyone, including those who cover technology extensively. Though Facebook claims that they did only with those users who have allowed them to record through the setting option, but the onus cannot be on the users alone. The tech companies must take care of a customer when he is signing up for a service or download an app, how the information collected is to be used must be revealed to the users.
Facebook explained that when one signs up for Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android, or log into Messenger on an Android device, there is given the option to continuously upload the contacts as well as the call and text history. In case of Messenger, it can be turned on, choose to learn more or not now, and in case of Facebook lite, the options available are to turn it on or skip. But another issue that came up is that the persons who never used messenger or facebook lite are claiming that they can see their call and SMS data those have been collected by Facebook.
Now the question arises, how to avoid this kind of recording:
- Messenger: Go to the settings > people > turn off the contact sync.
If you want to delete previous records, you can log in using this link, and delete contacts.
- Facebook lite: Settings > turn off Continuous Contacts Upload. Also turn off sync your call and text history.
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