Why does the Facebook application have access to your SMS?
Yesterday, the Internet exploded with the news that Facebook secretly requested a new permission in its Android application, permission to read SMS users.
The discussion in Reddit regarding the request arose because of the December message describing this change, and it turned out that the update and the necessary permissions rolled gradually. In fact, the user who published the screenshot that exploded Reddit learned about this from other users.
So if Facebook has not yet asked permission to read your text messages, then soon, this can happen.
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What the hell, you might think. Well, Facebook expected your hair to stand on end, and came up with a simple explanation for why the application might need to read your SMS. Here is what is written on the site:
In fact, the following happens:
Does this look like a good reason to access your personal information? Hardly.
Simply put, are you ready to allow Facebook to target ads based on the content of your SMS? Are you upset if your SMS will become another data file that Facebook can use to help advertisers better target their advertisements? Maybe you do not even mind. After all, Facebook already allows advertisers to use data such as education and age for targeting, so why not use another one?
The analogy with Gmail, which could have occurred to you, is not entirely accurate. Content sent through Gmail, fortunately or unfortunately, has always been stored on Google’s servers. Therefore, Google, with some restrictions, automatically scans your messages and displays ads based on the content of your emails in order to monetize your email service. Microsoft likes to make a fuss about the fact that this is too much, although it also scans your emails, both in order to combat viruses and to improve the commercialization of its Outlook.com product.
So what is the difference with Facebook? The fact that your SMS is not at all part of the Facebook universe. Thus, Facebook, wishing to access your SMS, is a company that takes on too much.
You can't say that Facebook targets advertisements based on the content of your SMS, or that it will, or even wants to do it. Maybe he just wants to be able to better confirm the legitimacy of the new devices. But if you give the mouse a crumb, then most likely she will want to eat all the cookies.
If you were comfortable with how Facebook treats your data, I suspect that nothing will change for you in this regard. However, if you have already experienced doubts, then this situation may become an occasion to gain a foothold in them.
The discussion in Reddit regarding the request arose because of the December message describing this change, and it turned out that the update and the necessary permissions rolled gradually. In fact, the user who published the screenshot that exploded Reddit learned about this from other users.
So if Facebook has not yet asked permission to read your text messages, then soon, this can happen.
')
What the hell, you might think. Well, Facebook expected your hair to stand on end, and came up with a simple explanation for why the application might need to read your SMS. Here is what is written on the site:
In fact, the following happens:
Facebook is requesting access to your SMS to make your two-factor authentication more friendly. Instead of forcing you to dig into your SMS in search of the code, it will automatically find the necessary lines for you.
Does this look like a good reason to access your personal information? Hardly.
Simply put, are you ready to allow Facebook to target ads based on the content of your SMS? Are you upset if your SMS will become another data file that Facebook can use to help advertisers better target their advertisements? Maybe you do not even mind. After all, Facebook already allows advertisers to use data such as education and age for targeting, so why not use another one?
The analogy with Gmail, which could have occurred to you, is not entirely accurate. Content sent through Gmail, fortunately or unfortunately, has always been stored on Google’s servers. Therefore, Google, with some restrictions, automatically scans your messages and displays ads based on the content of your emails in order to monetize your email service. Microsoft likes to make a fuss about the fact that this is too much, although it also scans your emails, both in order to combat viruses and to improve the commercialization of its Outlook.com product.
So what is the difference with Facebook? The fact that your SMS is not at all part of the Facebook universe. Thus, Facebook, wishing to access your SMS, is a company that takes on too much.
You can't say that Facebook targets advertisements based on the content of your SMS, or that it will, or even wants to do it. Maybe he just wants to be able to better confirm the legitimacy of the new devices. But if you give the mouse a crumb, then most likely she will want to eat all the cookies.
If you were comfortable with how Facebook treats your data, I suspect that nothing will change for you in this regard. However, if you have already experienced doubts, then this situation may become an occasion to gain a foothold in them.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/210716/
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