Facebook: Did you give your phone to the social network?

New privacy issue at . This time around, the largest social network seems to be getting its hands on its members' mobile phone numbers, which are provided solely for two-factor authentication, rather than targeted advertising.

Of course, those of you who have given your number to Facebook thought it would only be used for two-factor authentication. Wrong Facebook uses numbers to connect you with other people and target everyone with advertisements.

For example, if someone you know, give his Facebook number and allow Facebook to access his smartphone's contacts, the application reads all his contacts (do you think he does not save them?). So it can connect you with some, and it will keep you connected even if there is a rupture 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 Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge, who publicly criticized Mark Zuckerberg's information gathering and user search through Facebook phone number for account security purposes only .Facebook

"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.

Δεν αναφέρει ότι χρησιμοποιεί αριθμούς τηλεφώνου για διαφήμιση. Οι ερευνητές του πανεπιστημίου Princeton και του Northeastern University στις πέρυσι εξέτασαν πώς χρησιμοποιεί το Facebook προσωπικά αναγνωρίσιμα στοιχεία που παρέχονται από τους χρήστες.

They found (PDF) “that the phone numbers and email addresses added as of the profile for security purposes, such as two-factor authentication, the numbers provided in the Facebook Messenger app for the purpose of messaging, but also the 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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Written by giorgos

George still wonders what he's doing here ...

3 Comments

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  1. 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?

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