I'm bothered by the latest FaceBook app upgrade notice - should I be?

[douglerner]

The latest FaceBook app for the Nexus 7 includes requests for the following new permissions:

1. Your messages - Read your text messages (SMS or MMS).

2. Your personal information - Add or modify calendar events and send email to guests without owner's knowledge, read calendar events plus confidential information, read your own contact card.

3. Network communication - Connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi.

Item 3 doesn't bother me. Item 1 sort of does. Item 2 seems really over the top! What is that business about sending email to guests without owner's knowledge? Why is that necessary?

I'm sure the iOS app doesn't do that.

Should this bother me? I've resisted updating because of 1 and 2.

doug

 

[gdmin]

Yeah item no 1 and no 2... I have no idea why they needed that. I personally has uninstalled my facebook app on both ios and android but still using it on my old bb device with sync off.

Beside, I dont facebook a lot, maybe 5 - 15 minutes and once or twice a week just to check.

I am more to twitter...

Sent from multiple devices using Tapatalk

 

[Barracuda7772]

For 1.....the nexus 7 2013 is a tablet and does not have SMS.

As for 2 it sounds like it's to notify people of your birthday and to add birthdays to your calendar

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[dancing-bass]

1) If you have Facebook Home it allows you to use your Facebook Messenger as your default SMS handler. If you don't have Facebook Home, the standard Facebook app uses the same base, so the permissions remain the same. If you wish to use Facebook Messenger quite a lot and/or want to use it as your default SMS handler, just download the separate Facebook Messenger App. A number or people use their phone number as their log-in ID so this one doesn't surprise me. I can't say that I love it, but I'll deal
2) This allows Facebook to read your birthday, upcoming events, event invites, etc and sync them to your phone's calendar. Again, not necessarily cool, but not surprising. Facebook already has this info if you use it on your desktop, they're just putting other people's birthdays on your calendar, along with events you're a part of or have been invited to. Let me repeat this is information they have anyway if you use Facebook on a computer.
3) Allows the app to switch between Wifi and Mobile data signal. No biggie

Pretty much the only one that's slightly worrisome is the first one. Not that Facebook is known for air-tight security on user info, but your SMS info is about the only thing they're getting that they don't have if you access Facebook from a computer. If it makes you feel better, they've had SMS access for a few updates already, and if you want - don't use the app. Just use the mobile site instead. It won't help with 2 and 3 but should prevent 1 as far as I know.

 

[B. Diddy]

Here's a recent article by Jerry about this: Facebook's new permissions aren't any scarier than using Facebook in the first place | Android Central

 

[douglerner]

Here's a recent article by Jerry about this: Facebook's new permissions aren't any scarier than using Facebook in the first place | Android Central

With regards to the article where it says: "Add/modify calendar events and send emails to guests without your knowledge: Facebook says it's just so that you can see your Facebook events in your phone's calendar."

Why do emails need to be sent to guests without my knowledge in order to see Facebook events in the phone's calendar?

doug

 

[patruns]

I have not allowed the update for the very intrusive reasons that you mentioned.

 

[jerrykur]

The answer is obvious, don't use Facebook.

 

[barth2]

Read my personal info and send out email without my knowledge? No, I don't see any problem with that.no problem at all.

 

[douglerner]

It's been a month, and I still haven't upgraded my Nexus 7 FB app because of "...and send email to guests without owner's knowledge." I'm pretty sure the iOS FB app doesn't allow that. I wrote FB about it, but they never answered.

doug

 

[patruns]

It's been a month, and I still haven't upgraded my Nexus 7 FB app because of "...and send email to guests without owner's knowledge." I'm pretty sure the iOS FB app doesn't allow that. I wrote FB about it, but they never answered.

doug

Same here. Looks like I will never update it.

 

[jerrykur]

It's been a month, and I still haven't upgraded my Nexus 7 FB app because of "...and send email to guests without owner's knowledge." I'm pretty sure the iOS FB app doesn't allow that. I wrote FB about it, but they never answered.

doug

I bet the IOS version does do that, just without asking permission.

your spamming your friends is very lucrative. No way Facebook is going to let users wants and desires get in the way of making money.