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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

#151

Post by yaix »

sugarmountain wrote: post #82

Can any attorneys out there explain how altering computing devices to redirect and intercept email is not a criminal act when done without the knowledge or consent of the owner? If any of us pulled the same stunt, even if authorized to access the system for other reasons, would we not be subject to prosecution? Hopefully, the same will happen to FB. In addition to the Federal communications and cybercrime statutes, t…

Don't know in the US, but in Germany it is a criminal act afaik (ianal). Looking forward to the EU investigation into this. Maybe Facebook soon joins Microsoft in having to pay a billion euro fine?

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

#152

Post by johnchristopher »

tedunangst wrote: post #143
thezilch wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever seen sites with the ability to connect via Facebook? It often grants said site(s) with the user's Facebook primary-email. Now all personal emails, including password recoveries, are going through Facebook for said site(s).

I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where a site would send some information via email but that same information would not be available to anyone logging in via the web interface. But whatever.

I remember many phpbb forums are configured like that and administrative mails aren't duplicated in the forum internal messaging system.

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

#154

Post by emilis_info »

grourk wrote: post #40
graue wrote: post #16

As someone who quit facebook a while back, I can't help but feel that this kind of event vindicates me. Sometimes I'm tempted to re-create a minimal account on the service just for findability, but even that small step would have been enough for facebook to hijack my contact info in a friend's phone. There really is no way to have a facebook account at all, no matter how infrequently you use it, without getting screw…

How do you know when someone has deleted their Facebook account? They'll tell you.

Or blog about it, or write an email.

Because people want to keep in touch with their friends, "friends", followers, etc.. They need to notify them that they are using some other way to communicate.

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

#155

Post by antidoh »

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…

"The general consensus was that I was an alarmist doomsayer extremist exaggerating over nothing."

And they'll still call you that. Facebook's hold is too great.

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

#156

Post by antidoh »

jpeterson wrote: post #10
raganwald wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me see now. They have pushed their email address out into people’s address books and taken control of their private communications. Where is the poor (business) design?

Where is the poor (business) design? You'll see this when people start recognizing Facebook as the crap it really is, and stop using it.

I've been waiting for people to stop watching reality TV too.

Still waiting.

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

#157

Post by antidoh »

Here's my fear. I deleted my FBook account a couple years ago. And it seems to be at least inactive, but I assume there is still an entity representing "me" in some state at FBook, because that's how FBook rolls.

As I understand this latest feature, if I am a contact on someone else's phone, and their FBook app notices that I am a FBook user, that person's entry for me get's slammed to now point to me@FBook. So when that person emails me, it no longer goes to me@me.com, it goes to me@FBook.com. Which is an address that may or may not exist, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that FBook doesn't respond with a no such address, it just consumes the data. And I'm suddenly unreachable.

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

#158

Post by toemetoch »

po wrote: post #105
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 faceboo…

This is a very good explanation. But it also points out that the permission system is not really helping when you want background info on what's going on - you and I know this info from a background in development. Take a look at the permissions for google maps on android as an illustration.

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

#159

Post by SwellJoe »

tedunangst wrote: post #143
thezilch wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever seen sites with the ability to connect via Facebook? It often grants said site(s) with the user's Facebook primary-email. Now all personal emails, including password recoveries, are going through Facebook for said site(s).

I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where a site would send some information via email but that same information would not be available to anyone logging in via the web interface. But whatever.

You seem to lack imagination when it comes to nefarious deeds, which is fine; unfortunately, facebook does not lack imagination in this area (and in fact, one could argue this is a core belief at facebook, since it was founded upon a hacking incident wherein Zuckerberg borrowed student data).

They desperately want your email...they don't want it because it's cool to be an email provider. They want it because they intend to use it. The point isn't what specific piece of data they'll get from it (though passwords will be among that data--as a mail server administrator of 15+ years I can assure you of that); the point is that it's simply evil for them to interject their servers into the path via deceptive means.

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

#160

Post by icebraining »

einhverfr wrote: post #142
rangibaby wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 .

If you aren't buying a product, you are the product. That's worth drilling into your head. Yes, that means that User = product from HN's perspective, but I am willing to bet it is a lot more of a complex connection than it is with facebook ;-)

I didn't buy my copy of Debian, yet they treat me better than many companies I pay.

I pay for cable, yet I still get advertising.

That "not paying means you're the product" is a nice sound bite, but it doesn't actually mean anything.

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