Live data from Hacker News

Facebook can now read your texts

tony.calileo.com

51–60 of 226 posts

Re: Facebook can now read your texts

#52
post #19
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

use cyanogenmod + privacy mode, you can disable what the app can do. for example, you can disable that. app still works, it just gets an empty sms list.

Sure would be nice if someone would jailbreak the iPhone, so we could have these sorts of options in our little walled-gardens too.

You don't need to. Apps can't read SMS and for the rest: You get asked for everything and can deny it.

On Android it's all or nothing.

Re: Facebook can now read your texts

#53

That's why Privacy Guard from CyanogenMod is so useful. (Actually it's called AppOps and it's from Google but it's an hidden feature on stock Android)

Looks like not many people knew it. If it's available on Android, FB should ask user's permission instead of force them to accept. If it's for the sake of a feature, when user declines, only need to disable that feature.

Re: Facebook can now read your texts

#54
post #10

Is there any recourse short of "don't use the app" that regular users have against this sort of thing? Is there no meaningful way to push back against Facebook for demanding this permission?

use cyanogenmod + privacy mode, you can disable what the app can do. for example, you can disable that. app still works, it just gets an empty sms list.

or MIUI that comes directly with the privacy feature.

Re: Facebook can now read your texts

#57
post #24

At this point I'm running at least 2 versions behind on the facebook app. I didn't install it last time it asked me to allow it to "Send emails to guests [of events] without host's knowledge" among other things. I see now that they also want to be able to connect and disconnect from WiFi. The Facebook app is probably the fastest way to find a list of all permissions in the Android system. "Draw over other apps", "Rea…

"draw over other apps" is to implement chat heads (see http://www.piwai.info/chatheads-basics/ )

Which caused me to freak out when it first happened. I was furious. I had to stop everything I was doing immediately in order to figure out how to disable it.

I can't possibly state emphatically enough how user-hostile that feature is. It is so disruptive to my thought process...it's nearly as bad as that awful focus-stealing thing that Windows does.

Re: Facebook can now read your texts

#60
post #10

Is there any recourse short of "don't use the app" that regular users have against this sort of thing? Is there no meaningful way to push back against Facebook for demanding this permission?

use cyanogenmod + privacy mode, you can disable what the app can do. for example, you can disable that. app still works, it just gets an empty sms list.

Unfortunately, Cyanogenmod's Privacy Guard does not block everything (e.g. your IMEI is still readable if permission READ_PHONE_STATE is granted). XPrivacy can help in this case, but its UI is quite convoluted.
Post reply on HN