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Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

techcrunch.com

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Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#121

Post by dspillett »

bwann wrote: post #84
cbzbc wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can set it to be searchable by friends only, which should avoid recruiters being able to do this, unless they are adding themselves as friends first.

I totally get people want a "only me" option here, but really how bad is "friends-only" here? If I'm "friends" with you, you probably already know my phone number in real life.

Becaused for most people "friends" on facebook range from tru life-long friends down to mearly contacts, people you need to interact with in some way butdon't neccessarily want bothering you by phone.

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#122

Post by HenryBemis »

Tor3 wrote: post #92
gumby wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My GF uses a google voice number (and separate gmail accounts) for job search purposes both for this reason and because she can nuke the phone number later, cutting off headhunters once she'd found something she likes.

Sounds useful. It's unfortunate that google voice still isn't available outside North America. I don't know if that is for technical reasons or for (European/Asian) political reasons. But it sure would have been nice to keep separate numbers the same way it's sometimes necessary to keep separate google accounts.

Not advertising.. but Skype can also generate phone numbers for you, and you can equally drop them. I remember I used a Skype landline number for that specifi purpose - throaway number for when I was looking for a new job. And I discareded it immediately after.

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#124

Post by michaelt »

max_ wrote: post #117
potatofarmer45 wrote: post #14

This will make keeping your social media private during recruiting much much harder because rather than trying to search for your name on FB or your email, an interviewer can just search your listed contact number. Names are often not unique but phone numbers are. This matters because creating a new email account for recruiting is trivial, yet creating a new phone number for recruiting is not. Most phones are not dua…

At this point I have no pity for people who continuously feel violated by Facebook. Data hygiene is both the responsibility of users & social media cooperations. I still wonder why people rely on the kindness of strangers (the people that run the social networks) trying to make money off them. & then start crying foul when they are treated like garbage. Simply don't; - Submit data you find sensitive. - Use bonus cred…

...and if a single person (or company) with your number in their phone allows Facebook to access their contacts, FB has your phone number anyway.

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#125

Post by renholder »

gdfasfklshg4 wrote: post #101
on_and_off wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also a non negligible number of people using an alias on facebook because they have good reason. Apparently when a woman uses a pseudonym on facebook, it is not unlikely that it is because of a nasty/stalkerish ex that she would rather get away from. I am actually in favor of a transparent society (a la david brin) , but we have to grown up a lot and handle such cases before the advantages that come with it…

> Apparently when a woman uses a pseudonym on facebook, it is not unlikely that it is because of a nasty/stalkerish ex that she would rather get away from. Also men do this...

>Also men do this...

True story. A stalker found my blog via my Instagram account and commented some far-out there shit on it, inferring a conversation that we never even had, "Told you that you weren't dead." WTF!?

Now, it's pseudonyms, pseudonyms everywhere; except, of course, where it serves a necessity to have your actual name being used, such as on LinkedIn, but even those will be discarded, as soon as it's no longer necessary. (Necessity, here, meaning seeking gainful employment.)

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#126

Post by cm2187 »

gotocake wrote: post #58
willio58 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So get off public social networks. Problem solved.

I realize that you’re getting slammed for a pat, trite, or unhelpful answer to a complex problem, but it also happens to be the only answer. It’s an answer with real consequences, but when weighed against giving your privacy over to FB what else is to be done right now? Public social networks are poison, they’re inimical to privacy, and we need to get off of any that harvest personal information. Telling people to “q…

I don't know anyone around me who still uses facebook. Heard the story of a relative who organised a birthday on facebook and wondered why no one showed up.

I don't think it's an unhelpful answer to a complex problem. I think it's the right answer.

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#127

Post by renholder »

Tor3 wrote: post #92
gumby wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My GF uses a google voice number (and separate gmail accounts) for job search purposes both for this reason and because she can nuke the phone number later, cutting off headhunters once she'd found something she likes.

Sounds useful. It's unfortunate that google voice still isn't available outside North America. I don't know if that is for technical reasons or for (European/Asian) political reasons. But it sure would have been nice to keep separate numbers the same way it's sometimes necessary to keep separate google accounts.

>But it sure would have been nice to keep separate numbers the same way it's sometimes necessary to keep separate google accounts.

In Sweden, you can request a pre-paid SIM be sent to you in the mail[0].

To be fair, it's not entirely a "burner" SIM, as it's associated with your personnummer but it's a lot more convenient than queuing in a shop (if that's not your thing).

Maybe your country has a carrier that does the equivalent? :)

[0] - https://webbutik.comviq.se/kontantkort/checkout/comviqcart/p...

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#128

Post by Broken_Hippo »

dragonwriter wrote: post #120
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a "facebook friend" isn't an actual friend, and having these "friends" have my phone number is like everyone in a bar being able to look up my number. Or perhaps like going to a work conference and everyone being able to call me. The random "How are you are you single wanna talk about sex with me?!!???" messages are bad enough. I certainly don't want those as phone calls. Those on the list that are actual Fri…

> Because a "facebook friend" isn't an actual friend That's only true for you if you choose it to be true for you.

On the surface that is true, but most folks understand it doesn't really work that way and facebook isn't really used that way. At a minimum, facebook is generally full of actual friends (for me, maybe 5 folks now), family (my family is large) and folks you generally have met from school and work and other folks you might know in a professional manner or through groups and activities.

Not all of these groups would have my phone number, but facebook isn't exactly a telephone service at its core.

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#129

Post by [deleted] »

ahelwer wrote: post #103
tobr wrote: post #82

If you are a Facebook employee, or are close to one, please help me understand. How does it feel to see reports like this being released almost weekly? I realize people are very good at dealing with moral dissonance when their paycheck depends on it, but surely you must be thinking, talking to your colleagues, about what your personal responsibility in this is?

They don't care. A job at Facebook is still considered prestigious by a large part of the tech community. They're starting to be grouped more with Palantir than Google, though.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting

#130

Post by decasteve »

snarfy wrote: post #20

Glad I never gave them my number.

A couple of years ago the only social media I had was Instagram. One day I went to login and it prompted me to enter my phone number and there was no way around it. I decided to delete the app instead. Shortly afterwards my account disappeared. That was the end of that.
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