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Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

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21–30 of 375 posts

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#21

Ahem. That's just Facebook Analytics. Yes, it should be mentioned in the privacy policy, especially if they operate in countries under the GDPR (they do). But having a go at Zoom on this ground is unfair, given many developers do the exact same thing.

How does that make it better? Does FB not commingle the data? And no, others doing the same doesn't make this better, it makes them all bad.

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#22
post #13

Reminder: The NextDNS iOS app allows you to monitor and block these types of requests from all of your apps, via their DNS logging/filtering. (You can also configure the retention on the DNS logging, so as to not cause more toxic waste data.) I can't recommend it enough. Until/unless we get something like Little Snitch for the phone (are you listening, Apple?!), this is the next best thing.

Are there any guides for running your own setup with similar filtering functionality? Not keen to run all my traffic through some unknown VPN.

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#24

Facebook is also ad & analytics network. You can replace facebook, with any ad/analytics network and it will still be true. Probably vice’s mobile app, or website, or any other app with ads, sharing this information. Problem is trying to create fake news like this, with using popular names like zoom and facebook. (When I mean fake news, this is not news at all, things you can see on google analytics vs this is not ev…

Please don't misuse the term "fake news." Fake news has a specific meaning: false stories that have no basis in fact but have tantalizing headlines meant to attract attention. Attempting to change the meaning of the term dilutes its importance and introduces unnecessary confusion.

If "Fake News" ever meant that for the majority of english speakers, it is gone. It seems to have skyrocketed in the modern lexicon as a way to attack media to shift the conversation. Whenever I hear someone use the term Fake News, I am immediately more critical of their words.

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#25
post #13

Reminder: The NextDNS iOS app allows you to monitor and block these types of requests from all of your apps, via their DNS logging/filtering. (You can also configure the retention on the DNS logging, so as to not cause more toxic waste data.) I can't recommend it enough. Until/unless we get something like Little Snitch for the phone (are you listening, Apple?!), this is the next best thing.

Are there any guides for running your own setup with similar filtering functionality? Not keen to run all my traffic through some unknown VPN.

NextDNS doesn't send the traffic, just DNS (and, entirely encrypted via DoH, unlike normal DNS), but if you're concerned about it, something like pi-hole does much the same thing, and is self-contained/self-hosted.

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#26
EVERY. SINGLE. APP. THAT. INCLUDES. THE. FACEBOOK. SDK.

Even if you don't log in. The Facebook SDK sends data back.

Hook your device up to an intercepting proxy and start up a few apps. 99% of them do this.

I really wish Apple would put an end to this.

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#28

Ahem. That's just Facebook Analytics. Yes, it should be mentioned in the privacy policy, especially if they operate in countries under the GDPR (they do). But having a go at Zoom on this ground is unfair, given many developers do the exact same thing.

So maybe it's unfair, but unfair is perfectly OK in this kind of situation. The important thing is to call it out and make it stop, even if this has to be done for one perpetrator at a time.

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#29
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any guides for running your own setup with similar filtering functionality? Not keen to run all my traffic through some unknown VPN.

NextDNS doesn't send the traffic, just DNS (and, entirely encrypted via DoH, unlike normal DNS), but if you're concerned about it, something like pi-hole does much the same thing, and is self-contained/self-hosted.

If it's not open source how do I confirm that for myself?

Re: Zoom iOS app sends data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account

#30

Facebook is also ad & analytics network. You can replace facebook, with any ad/analytics network and it will still be true. Probably vice’s mobile app, or website, or any other app with ads, sharing this information. Problem is trying to create fake news like this, with using popular names like zoom and facebook. (When I mean fake news, this is not news at all, things you can see on google analytics vs this is not ev…

Please don't misuse the term "fake news." Fake news has a specific meaning: false stories that have no basis in fact but have tantalizing headlines meant to attract attention. Attempting to change the meaning of the term dilutes its importance and introduces unnecessary confusion.

Actually this is exactly what fake news is, putting facts in different spotlight, and let people to reach wrong verdict: (also it is called propaganda)

Even when reading the article, author is going between two sides, but considering headline and sub-headline, it is obvious it is at least clickbait and biased.

- "Zoom iOS App Sends Data to Facebook Even if You Don’t Have a Facebook Account" + "This sort of data transfer is not uncommon, especially for Facebook; plenty of apps use Facebook's software development kits (SDK) as a means to implement features into their apps more easily, which also has the effect of sending information to Facebook." + "I think users can ultimately decide how they feel about Zoom and other apps sending beacons to Facebook, even if there is no direct evidence of sensitive data being shared in current versions,"

- "Zoom's privacy policy isn't explicit about the data transfer to Facebook at all." - "That's shocking. There is nothing in the privacy policy that addresses that," + Zoom's privacy policy says "our third-party service providers, and advertising partners (e.g., Google Ads and Google Analytics) automatically collect some information about you when you use our Products," but does not link this sort of activity to Facebook specifically.

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