What does Facebook know about its users?

© naftemporiki.gr What does Facebook know about its users?

Pressure on Facebook is exacerbated by the misuse of millions of user data by Cambridge Analytica. More and more users want to know the fate of their data.

For weeks now, Facebook has been targeted by organizations protecting personal data. Even the mea culpa of the leader of the popular social media Zackerberg did not manage to calm the spirits. While many people are calling users to delete their profile, others try to learn exactly which data is available to the giant.

The serious accusations against Facebook came to add another: the social network is reportedly storing Android users’ phone calls and text lists without their approval.

 See what your data is stored in:

 “Somehow Facebook has the full list of calls with my mother-in-law,

wrote to twitter a user from New Zealand, adding:

“It’s a chronological record of every single contact on my phone, including those that I no longer have.”

He argues that there are also the metadata of all the text messages he has sent and received. All data was collected between November 2016 and July 2017. There were thousands of tweets where other users posted their own experiences.

Facebook is reported to have stored this information without having received user permission. The contents of sms and phone calls may not be stored, but incoming and outgoing calls, call numbers, and talk time are also recorded.

Each user has the ability to download their saved profile data from Facebook. This is done in settings where one can download a copy of the data stored in the FB, such as posts, photos, videos, and conversations made over the network. That’s what the Neo-Zealander did, discovering the call data and sms to his surprise.

According to FB’s reply, this is due to Facebook Lite and Messenger, where users can upload their contacts, calls, and text messages. Synchronizing data helps users stay in touch, for example, based on the phone book, friends are suggested, as reported by the network.

 Who is concerned?

However, this new problem only affects Android device users, not iPhone, as iOS does not have access to call and text lists. However, even Android users who have not explicitly given their consent to uploading their contacts and phone calls protocols may have given permission unknowingly as the formalities in previous versions of Android were pretty unclear.

Facebook admits to storing the data, but, as he points out, following explicit permission from users. Data storage is more “Opt-in-Feature”, so only with the prior explicit approval of the user. Besides, as noted, the user always has the option to deactivate the function.

Many users, however, belie the Internet giant and claim that they never agreed to store their data.

However, despite Facebook’s attempts to answer the questions that arise, a crucial question remains completely unanswered: what is the reason for storing the exact call data and sms, and indeed the talk time?

Source: www.naftemporiki.gr