101–110 of 226 posts
I have about 10 apps that I refuse to update, because they want some new permissions that I'm not willing to grant them. It is sometimes hard to find apps that respect your privacy and don't request absurd permissions.
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.slvn.appops
This has been a thing for about a month and a bit now. A Facebook engineer posted the following on Reddit[0], explaining the rationale behind the SMS permission: > As for the READ_SMS permission, we require that so we can automatically intercept login approvals SMS messages for people that have turned 2-factor authentication for their accounts, or for phone confirmation messages when you add a phone number to your Fa…
I personally don't use Facebook on phone now, but I would recommend using a third-party app for accessing Facebook on android. I have used Friendcaster, Fast and Seesmic before and found them pretty decent.
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?
> Is there no meaningful way to push back against Facebook for demanding this permission? I think "not using the app" is the most meaningful way, really. Alternatively, spoof its private data hose and flood Facebook with garbage data, but I presume that's illegal.
Asking for SMS (read/send) permissions is a growing trend among mobile apps (Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Google Hangouts…). Most of the time, they're here to make the app slightly more useful to the end user. But at the same time, you're potentially saying "yes" to a company who might, one day, use your most personal info for bleaker purposes. It's thus something I've always been fighting against (at least…
I find it sad that most users value simplicity over privacy.
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This sounds excellent, I can't believe I never tried it yet! Of course, this should be part of core Android, but I guess there is no hope for that (given that Google makes its dough on advertising).
It used to be, called App Ops. It was in for (one?) point release before google promptly withdrew it again after realising that giving people tools to protect their privacy goes against their mission.
[1] http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Removes+App+Ops+Privacy+Cont...
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It used to be, called App Ops. It was in for (one?) point release before google promptly withdrew it again after realising that giving people tools to protect their privacy goes against their mission.
According to Google [1], it was never meant to ship at that point as it was not ready for general public. There was some compatibility problems with many applications, so that is somewhat believable. [1] http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Removes+App+Ops+Privacy+Cont...
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I uninstalled the app and put a bookmark to the mobile site on my homescreen instead (like the old days before app stores). It's slightly slower, but on a Nexus 4, it's still fast enough I don't mind. They've improved the mobile interface since the early iPhone days.
This FB app is what you're looking for: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.danvelazco...