New privacy issue on Facebook. This time, the largest social network seems to be "getting its hands on" its members' mobile phone numbers, which are provided solely for two-factor authentication, not targeted ads.
Of course, those of you who have given your Facebook number thought that it would only be used for two-factor authentication. Wrong Facebook uses numbers to connect with other people and target everyone with online ads.
For example, if someone you know gives their number to Facebook and allows the Facebook app to get it access in his smartphone contacts, the app reads all his contacts (think it doesn't save them?). So it can connect you with some, and it will continue to have you connected even if there is a break in your relationships.
Of course, Facebook does not stop promoting targeted ads, but it also gives your number in the search function of the page.
The outbreak of slogging on Facebook's phone number was triggered on Friday by the founder of Emojipedia Jeremy Burge, who publicly criticized Mark Zuckerberg's information-gathering feature and searching users by phone number provided to Facebook for the sole purpose of account security.
"For years Facebook claimed that adding a phone number was for 2FA and only for security." he said through his Twitter. "Now they find you in the searches and there is no way to turn it off."
Facebook has partially disabled similar phone number searches in the past, preventing someone from looking for their profile number. Today Facebook seems to re-use the numbers in searches on certain accounts, and undoubtedly uses WhatsApp searches for numbers.
As explains Facebook to one support page, uses account security phone numbers to help your friends find you and some possible recovery of your account.
It does not mention using phone numbers for advertising. The researchers of Princeton University and Northeastern University in the US last year examined how Facebook uses personally identifiable information provided by users.
They found (PDF) “that phone numbers and email addresses added as profile features for security purposes, such as two-factor authentication, those numbers provided to the Facebook Messenger app for the purpose of respondingchange messages, but also numbers included in users' contacts, are used by Facebook to allow advertisers to target users."
According to Alex Stamos, a former Facebook security chief, the social network was planning to separate the phone numbers used for 2FA from other phone numbers given for other purposes, but that is no longer the case.
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Good Evening. Nice article!
I wanted to ask the following: My fb "blocked" my account and asked for a phone number to send me a password. Of course I do not want to give my number.
Is there anything I can do?
if he has no choice for another verification method unfortunately it is the only way
Well, it's until a war on privatization begins. Then they will not know where they will owe;