Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

mashable.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 380 posts

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#311

Post by jjeaff »

kaizoku_ wrote: post #305
tomduncalf wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a nasty dark pattern but I think in the case of iOS upgrades you can somewhat justify it - it’s important that users upgrade to avoid security issues etc. Of course really, iOS upgrades should be so pain-free that no one would ever want to say no, but that’s a different story!

I suspect that their motivation to push users to upgrade has far more to do with their planned obsolescence than anything to do with keeping users secure.

I wouldn't be so sure. Security issues are bad publicity. Even Microsoft patches known pirate copies of their os for security reasons.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#312

Post by arethuza »

4ad wrote: post #292
Feniks wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. As as a European WhatsApp has become as essential as breathing. Just the thought of coordinating all my contacts to switch over to another app is scary. Unless WhatsApp ever charges money. That would get people to move.

> Yep. As as a European WhatsApp has become as essential as breathing. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am an European, and I have never used WhatsApp.

I don't use WhatsApp myself but I was surprised to find that members of my extended family (mostly in their 50s) had started using it to stay in touch rather than Facebook.

Also, from what I have read, WhatsApp is very popular in UK political circles (MPs, SPADs etc.).

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#313

Post by kbart »

Sylos wrote: post #308

What's the legal situation for this in the US? Pretty sure, this is illegal in most of the EU already, but the GDPR will definitely prohibit it on the basis of the data clearly not being used for the originally specified purpose.

I can't wait for GDPR to take effect and I won't be lazy to go through every f*ckin option on my Windows PC, Android phone, Google account etc. and report every bit that violates it. I see it as a revenge for all these years of dark UI patterns.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#314

Post by code_duck »

briandear wrote: post #156
jellicle wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then what incentive does Facebook have to stop its consistently user-hostile business practices Once upon a time in the USA, and in some nations today, there was/is regulation in the public interest. Why not try it in the USA?

You aren't required to use Facebook. You can, in less than one second, stop using it. It isn't electricity, roads, water. It's freakin' Facebook.

The point wasn’t that they have a monopoly, it was that they have unfair business practices.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#315

Post by code_duck »

RikNieu wrote: post #244
mintplant wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar experience around a year ago, with Facebook texting me a notification out of the blue to the number I had set up for 2FA. In a show of futile-yet-satisfying passive aggression, I texted back "go away" to the robot... which promptly posted it as a status update on my timeline, to the confusion and concern of my friends until I noticed and took it down.

What a brilliant dark pattern! Make people's assumed private snotty replies to them public and visible to their peers. They out passive aggressived you like a ninja.

They have the advantage in the power balance of the relationship.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#316

Post by dep_b »

hutattedonmyarm wrote: post #264
Giroflex wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I first opened up the Netflix mobile app and it asked me if I wanted it to show me notifications I thought "hey, that's nice, most apps just start spamming me without asking". I clicked "No thanks" and went on my way. It turns out, though, that it asks that _every_ single time I open the app. It's really annoying and I'm about to allow them only to block them at the OS level.

Interestingly, that happened to me on my Android tablet, but not on the Netflix iOS app

It’s still possible on iOS but if you declined the official pop-up once you can’t show it again. But you can annoy the users with different and equally intrusive pop-ups asking you to go to settings to change it for example.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#317

Post by taneq »

saguro wrote: post #157
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…

That thing facebook does with demanding your phone number, that's my favorite dark pattern. Apple does the same thing with iOS upgrades. First you pose a seemingly innocent question, like 'would you like to give us your phone number so we can keep your account secure?' or 'would you like to upgrade to new iOS?'. Then you take away the NO option. You replace it with 'i'll decide later'. And by doing so, you make it no…

> Then you take away the NO option. You replace it with 'i'll decide later'. And by doing so, you make it not a choice for the user. You make it a statistical guarantee that sooner or later, most users will cave in and hit yes, even if by accident.

Fucking YouTube and their "Would you like to merge your account with your Google Account and use your real name forever more? Yes / Soon."

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#318

Post by DoubleGlazing »

jobigoud wrote: post #280
perfectstorm wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you block Contacts access on your phone (iOS/Android) can Faceboook still access your contacts ? Are you aware of any loopholes that lets Facebook access someone's contacts ?

If some of your contacts have this enabled then they can rebuild the network. There was a case not so long ago where unrelated patients of a psychiatrist were suggested as friend to each other. The only possible link is that they all had the psychiatrist in their contact or vice-versa. The friending suggestion by itself was an outing of private medical information.

My wife is a private practice speech therapist. She goes to great lengths to separate her personal social media from work social media. She has separate work and personal accounts for Facebook, Google, WhatsApp etc. Still she gets friend suggestions for her clients on her personal accounts. And it's not just once or twice, usually her suggested friends list is almost the exact same as her current client list.

Its creepy, and slightly disturbing to realise just how much effort they are putting in to mapping out your life and acquaintances even when you try to prevent it.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#319

Post by wastedhours »

sizzle wrote: post #188
saguro wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That thing facebook does with demanding your phone number, that's my favorite dark pattern. Apple does the same thing with iOS upgrades. First you pose a seemingly innocent question, like 'would you like to give us your phone number so we can keep your account secure?' or 'would you like to upgrade to new iOS?'. Then you take away the NO option. You replace it with 'i'll decide later'. And by doing so, you make it no…

As an ethical UX designer, unethical UX designers/PMs/ need to be shamed for creating/allowing dark pattern in their work. This goes against the fundamental tenets of empathetic UX design and in downright manipulative and bordering evil.

But who/where do we draw the line for "ethical" design? Every design decision is on a spectrum, and anything above helping someone eat, sleep or shit, is to some degree "un-needed" design.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#320

Post by jsjohnst »

chmod775 wrote: post #281
jsjohnst wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t like what you’re seeing, click the “hide stuff like this” option. I used to complain at end, then a friend forced me to use that feature and I rarely see something I don’t care about now (but still miss stuff I do care about as I don’t check FB that often).

Billions of dollars invested into machine learning and online tracking, and still I have to manually tell the thing about my interests.

> online tracking

Do the websites you visit define who you are (with zero context on why you visited it)? Do all the friends you have provide clear signal to what you want?

I don’t care how much $$$ is poured into ML, garbage in will always be garbage out. Something has to feed the model and if it’s all passive clicks with no strong signals from you, you get crappy results generally.

Post reply on HN