Facebook spies on phone users' text messages, report says

Facebook spies on phone users' text messages, report says

www.news.com.au

INTERNET giant Facebook is accessing smartphone users' personal text messages, an investigation revealed today.

Facebook admitted reading text messages belonging to smartphone users who downloaded the social-networking app and said that it was accessing the data as part of a trial to launch its own messaging service, The (London) Sunday Times reported.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well, i must say, that this was very predictable knowing Facebook, and it's obession with trying to get as much personal info as possible.

The quote i find interesting is that Facebook has admitted to READING the text messages, not just keeping them in storage. So they are reading private messages.

It doesn't surprise me one bit.

www.news.com.au (visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 26-2-2012 by daaskapital because: eta

They're spying on us from all angles - watch the film/doc Thrive - it's made by the son of the founder of Proctor and Gamble and all the fact are verified and checkable - he shows exactly what's going on and what the over all plan is for the world.

Also about checking peoples emails and phone calls.

It's a Must Watch!

www.thrivemovement.com...

Wow this is disgusting, I'm so glad I stopped using Facebook a while ago.
Personally, this conquest to collect personal information makes me feel used; the information is gathered primarily to personalize advertisements, which is Facebook's cashcow. I'm just tired of seeing all of the freedom and anonymity (more or less) the web once had dissolve before me.

Thanks for the info Dass - I think I'll be opting out of facebook - nothing to hide at all but it's all about control and spying.
That Thrive Movie tells you exactly what they're up to.

Spread the word.

reply to post by quedup


I agree, even though there is nothing to hide, it is just sickening that they go out of their way to spy on everything you do.

even with knowing farcebook has no regard for its users privacy and monitors their every move... the fools and idiots will continue to use it ...

they get what they deserve for being stupid.

It claimed that some apps even allow companies to intercept phone calls - while others, such as YouTube, are capable of remotely accessing and operating users' smartphone cameras to take photographs or videos at any time. Read more: www.news.com.au...

Does anyone find this part just the most creepiest? Remotely accessing and operating a smartphone to take photographs or videos at any time. I mean wow, seriously? So glad I gave up the cell phone BS awhile ago because that's just plain creepy. Does a user not know when that's done? Can they just bypass those videos and pics from being noticed on the phones?

Creep factor just skyrocketed for me, think about that, kids have these phones and accounts. If I had a child who had a phone this would just drive me insane with wonder if some creep at HQ of these places gained acces to my childs phone to record a video or pic of them for there personal stash....

I think this is a good thing, hopefully it will enrage enough people to start speaking out. Corporate social agencies will be their, and this era's, own undoing. Time to go freeze some more apps.

using android you can root your mobile .. once rooted you can remove all the spyware and bloatware that comes on mobiles ..

quick and easy to do also batt. lasts longer , gain mem. and apps run better / faster.

@ mosheh24 and anyone else interested..
grr reply to option not working ...

I have an iphone and i installed ip firewall to block these types of things. Not only that I do not even have facebook installed.

To see active connections on an iphone install the app called TCP Netstat to see where your phone connnects to. I found two ip addresses that the phone connnects to and one is related to apple HQ. The other is some place in NYC which is suspicious.

Originally posted by daaskapital
reply to post by quedup

 

I agree, even though there is nothing to hide, it is just sickening that they go out of their way to spy on everything you do.

GMail does the same, it 'reads' your Email (gmail email) and specifically targets you with adverts. Even if it's not a human doing it, I told them off for it, and lost all my google accounts. lmao. at least they don't get revenue from me anymore.

And there is an option to turn off specifically tailored advertising, which does nothing...

These big internet corporations are intending to run the world, the internet world, as it becomes more and more a thing we rely on, and no one is stepping up to stop them.... I can only read about it in sci-fi books how it ends..

turn off, tune out, switch over..

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
I have an iphone and i installed ip firewall to block these types of things. Not only that I do not even have facebook installed.

To see active connections on an iphone install the app called TCP Netstat to see where your phone connnects to. I found two ip addresses that the phone connnects to and one is related to apple HQ. The other is some place in NYC which is suspicious.

So glad I have a rooted android.

And am well versed in linux.

no need to install anything, except a decent terminal app. I just wish I could plug a usb keyboard in.

But then, with android there is always the ADB connection from the pc. It's just funny doing linux commands on a mobile phone... and I don't even have any credit, I just use it as a wifi remote for windows media center.. lmao

I LOLed at "said that it was accessing the data as part of a trial to launch its own messaging service".

Now do they need to read your text messages which has nothing to do with Facebook. Well, maybe soon Facebook will launch a text message sync feature to backup your text messages on their server. Enough sheeple in the world to give away even more of their personal data.

reply to post by mosheh24


I was being a tool once and hopped on Youtube on my phone. For a while after, the phone took images by itself while locked. Connected or not connected. Very weird.

What a waste of resources and money! I would imagine that 99.99999 % of us have nothing of interest to read. So you have peeps reading "LOL," "pick up milk," and a plethora of duck face photos. I just don't see purpose or the point even from a marketing standpoint. Maybe they are making a catalog of boobs across America.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
I have an iphone and i installed ip firewall to block these types of things. Not only that I do not even have facebook installed.

To see active connections on an iphone install the app called TCP Netstat to see where your phone connnects to. I found two ip addresses that the phone connnects to and one is related to apple HQ. The other is some place in NYC which is suspicious.

That's interesting i didn't know you could do that.

Mine shows some addresses to amazonaws.com, which turns out to be amazon web services? Some other ones labeled akamaitechnologies.com, ip address 63.84.59.74 based in chicago to akamai, pccw global a voice and data carrier, and iad04s01-in-f156.1e100.net out of california, belonging to none other than google.

This was all while doing nothing on the phone, letting it sit idle.

Originally posted by Expat888
using android you can root your mobile .. once rooted you can remove all the spyware and bloatware that comes on mobiles ..

quick and easy to do also batt. lasts longer , gain mem. and apps run better / faster.

@ mosheh24 and anyone else interested..
grr reply to option not working ...

edit on 26/2/12 by Expat888 because: clarification ... reply to option not working..

edit on 26/2/12 by Expat888 because: ....

How do you root an android phone??
I would love to get rid of some of the apps that it came with for starters....and get rid of spyware...

Not surprising at all.

You would have to be a complete
moron to give facebook so much
information.

Unless you like being pried and spied on.

If people do not read the apps permissions prior to downloading/updating they only have themselves to blame.

Here are a couple of (FREE) privacy apps on Android Market that can show you what all system/user apps are up to on your Android device in real time.

PDroid, LBE privacy guard, Permission Monitor.