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Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

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Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#101

Post by pradocchia »

jpeterson wrote: post #38
raganwald wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly, but just for the sake of an interesting discussion, what is there about this particular blatant “It screws users over but it's good for Facebook” move that is different than all the other moves they’ve pulled?

I think the difference here is that everything they've done before now has been more or less bounded by my own actions. If they screw my privacy, it's my own damned fault for posting sensitive stuff to their site. Hell, even if they track me around the web, I should've been more careful about blocking their cookies. But this is another ballgame. What they've done here is effectively hijack a completely unrelated and…

I've avoided installing any facebook mobile apps out of fear of specifically this kind of thing. I'm much more comfortable keeping it quarantined in a web browser, away from my real contacts list, even if that browser interface is comparatively sluggish and unusuable.

Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#102

Post by threejay »

vibrunazo wrote: post #100

About an year ago, when the story blew up about the Facebook app sneaking through your phone contacts and adding friends numbers' to your Facebook account. I instantly deleted the Facebook app from my Android, and told my friends Facebook was clearly not reliable to have an app privilege on your phone. I called it that they would eventually do even worse, if you let them have an app in your phone. The general consens…

user =/= customer

Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#103

Post by wtallis »

rjsamson wrote: post #92
wtallis wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like this is iOS's built-in Facebook integration that was blindly trusting Facebook's data.

FB integration isn't coming until the fall - it is currently only available in developer builds of iOS 6.

Are any of the iOS complaints coming from people who aren't running iOS 6 dev builds?

Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#105

Post by po »

crazygringo wrote: post #53

The more important question is, what are Apple and Google doing allowing apps write access to a user's address book?? I can't believe anyone at Facebook was dumb enough to think this was a good idea. But at the same time, I can't believe some "rogue engineer" did this by accident. I'm curious to see what Facebook says about it.

They have to allow write access to some applications otherwise there can be no third-party address book apps. If there was such a permission, you can bet that facebook would have asked for it by default. You can also be sure that hundreds of millions of people would have granted it and we would be seeing the exact same problem.

The root of the problem is facebook. The important questions should be directed at facebook. We can look to Apple or Google for help, but ultimately when we install an application, we grant it our trust and Facebook routinely tramples all over it. Turns out that it's a winning strategy.

Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#106

Post by rangibaby »

threejay wrote: post #102
vibrunazo wrote: post #100

About an year ago, when the story blew up about the Facebook app sneaking through your phone contacts and adding friends numbers' to your Facebook account. I instantly deleted the Facebook app from my Android, and told my friends Facebook was clearly not reliable to have an app privilege on your phone. I called it that they would eventually do even worse, if you let them have an app in your phone. The general consens…

user =/= customer

User = product

If x service is making money off their product (you, user) then you should really have at least some "rights". The key word being should.

Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#107

Post by drivebyacct2 »

vibrunazo wrote: post #100

About an year ago, when the story blew up about the Facebook app sneaking through your phone contacts and adding friends numbers' to your Facebook account. I instantly deleted the Facebook app from my Android, and told my friends Facebook was clearly not reliable to have an app privilege on your phone. I called it that they would eventually do even worse, if you let them have an app in your phone. The general consens…

This is about the other side of things. Everyone who had you as a Facebook friend and does still have the app, is now sending you emails that you're possibly not receiving. The problem is worse than you make it out to be. Deleting your whole account and manually telling people your email address was the only way to prevent this.

Re: Facebook e-mail mess: Address books altered, e-mail lost

#110

Post by SwellJoe »

Facebook simply doesn't have an ethical central core. They've shown over and over that when user privacy or security conflict with facebook's goals, they'll choose facebook over the user. It's always relatively subtle; they strive to only do what they can get away with...but it's always pushing the line, and is never based on trying to do what's right, merely avoiding backlash. Facebook, the company, is kind of a sociopath.

I wish it weren't this way. I have several friends within facebook whom I like and respect, and they produce a lot of great technology. But, I fear facebook having more power than they already have. It can only end badly for the user.

Facebook really needs a "don't be evil" moment, but I suspect it's too late, and I suspect that Zuckerberg simply doesn't think that way.

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