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Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

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Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#21

Post by Meph504 »

stratelogical wrote: post #2

Unbelievable. When signing up for 2FA, FB never said what else it would be used for. From a legal standpoint, aren’t companies are supposed to say what the phone number will be used for when asking for phone number? Somebody from FB - please tell us this is a bug.

Well as far as legal protections go, nothing definitive, and they can always argue their statements about enhancing user experience would cover this.

Check westlaw on it https://content.next.westlaw.com/6-502-0467?transitionType=D...

I think the real issue, is people think they are doing one thing, but doing another.

depending on the age of your account, you'll notice that the notifications for SMS maybe defaulted on, this didn't matter if you didn't have a phone number associated with your account. When you add a phone number to your account, its not "solely" 2FA, you add the number to your account, and 2Fa is enabled, just like all the other default setting that apply to phone numbers.

which is why when people are responding to the SMS its posting on their wall, its because what their settings are set to do.

see the settings below where they can disable this. https://imgur.com/a/6pOHH

It's another case of people screaming to the heavens about evil megacorp. when in reality they can't be bothered to check their own settings.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#22

Post by ReidZB »

SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

> I realize that the proper solution is to terminate my account and never attempt to log back in.... but I've had my account since 2006 and despite the company's terrible practices, I'm really not interested in disconnecting for good at this time

Well, that's the real problem, isn't it? If users aren't punishing Facebook by leaving the platform in droves, then what incentive does Facebook have to stop its consistently user-hostile business practices? Obviously it does not care about complaints alone: so long as engagement metrics are up, the users' opinions can be damned.

The good news (for those of us that don't like Facebook) is that it seems like users are leaving it—or at least that's the picture I get from stories/comments submitted here on HN.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#23

Post by SamLevin88 »

ASalazarMX wrote: post #19
SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

> I realize that the proper solution is to terminate my account and never attempt to log back in I've had a "terminated" account that occasionally gets emails inviting me to "Log back in with one click". When I originally tried to delete the account, it told me it would be actually erased a month after. That was 6 years ago.

Yeah. It's no secret that they never fully let you disconnect. If you're serious about it, seems like you need to create a burner email account with an absurdly complex password, update FB to use this account, and you know the rest

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#24

Post by SamLevin88 »

ReidZB wrote: post #22
SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

> I realize that the proper solution is to terminate my account and never attempt to log back in.... but I've had my account since 2006 and despite the company's terrible practices, I'm really not interested in disconnecting for good at this time Well, that's the real problem, isn't it? If users aren't punishing Facebook by leaving the platform in droves, then what incentive does Facebook have to stop its consistentl…

They definitely are. And for users like me they certainly aren't getting their money's worth... I use FB purity, ublock origin, and have spent the better part of the last year using the 'on this day' feature to scrub historical information from the platform.

As a tool Facebook still has valid use cases for me. The benefits of keeping it edge out any negatives. So for now I will stay. Unless any egregious election meddling information comes out, in which I'll seriously reevaluate that decision

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#25

Post by exhilaration »

_Microft wrote: post #20

Facebook has been asking me to add my mobile number to secure my account. It even prepopulated the input field with my mobile number that I never shared with them! My best guess is that their app farmed it out of the phone adress book of one of my friends. Either way, they definitely overstepped the mark here, in my opinion.

Do you use Whatsapp? Unless you opted out during the short window they offered during the summer, Facebook got all your Whatsapp contacts and data, and that of course includes your phone number: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-stop-whatsapp-from-sharin...

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#27

Post by Joe-Z »

ReidZB wrote: post #22
SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

> I realize that the proper solution is to terminate my account and never attempt to log back in.... but I've had my account since 2006 and despite the company's terrible practices, I'm really not interested in disconnecting for good at this time Well, that's the real problem, isn't it? If users aren't punishing Facebook by leaving the platform in droves, then what incentive does Facebook have to stop its consistentl…

I don't want to delete my account either, because I use fb to stay in contact with friends spread around the globe. (Granted: Very rarely to post something in local groups also.)

But my bookmark points to facebook.com/messages and I practically never look on my feed. I guess (/hope) I'm about as valuable as a deleted account to facebook. Please feel free to correct me if you have some insights into this!

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#28

Post by onychomys »

loorinm wrote: post #7

This happened to me too. The value of being on facebook is an illusion. In person relationships are vastly more rewarding, both emotionally and financially.

Many of us have family spread all over the country. I can keep in contact with them all via a facebook group instead of one at a time over the phone or group text (...not that my mother would understand how to do that) or the like. Even if you don't appreciate how it connects you to your friends (if it even does), surely you can appreciate how it can connect you to your family.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#29

Post by Caveman_Coder »

Panino wrote: post #18

> Importantly, Lewis isn't the only person who claims this happened to him. One Facebook user says he accidentally told "friends and family to go [to] hell" when he "replied to the spam." Wow. I deleted my FB acct. 8 or 9 years ago because it kept getting worse and worse. It's just sad to read about it now. From my POV, Facebook is like a TV series that had an incredible first few episodes but quickly grew progressiv…

We've probably hit peak FB...or perhaps FB has jumped-the-shark using your TV series comparison...either way, any news about the decline of FB is good in my book.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#30

Post by Slansitartop »

Meph504 wrote: post #21
stratelogical wrote: post #2

Unbelievable. When signing up for 2FA, FB never said what else it would be used for. From a legal standpoint, aren’t companies are supposed to say what the phone number will be used for when asking for phone number? Somebody from FB - please tell us this is a bug.

Well as far as legal protections go, nothing definitive, and they can always argue their statements about enhancing user experience would cover this. Check westlaw on it https://content.next.westlaw.com/6-502-0467?transitionType=D... I think the real issue, is people think they are doing one thing, but doing another. depending on the age of your account, you'll notice that the notifications for SMS maybe defaulted on…

> It's another case of people screaming to the heavens about evil megacorp. when in reality they can't be bothered to check their own settings.

Facebook's settings are often opaque and unintuitive, and some of the stuff around notifications qualifies as dark patterns. Also, as you mentioned, Facebook has a history of using selfishly-chosen defaults which are often not what a user would likely want or expect.

I'm not going to fault people for complaining about getting tricked into settings they didn't want.

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