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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

#361

Post by ttepasse »

sandov wrote: post #237
tjoff wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my book this is more or less another proof that you should be vary of vendor lockin and that under no circumstances whatsoever use any such system for communication. It is bad enough to change phone number but you simply can't change facebook to something else and continue as usual. I guess this leaves email, SMS and IRC as the main remaining options. Somehow this needs to be communicated to the general public, bu…

I've been thinking about making an easy-to-use RSS client, so non-technical people can use it and post the stuff that they would otherwise put on facebook (before it got invaded by videos and ads) or twitter. Have you tried mastodon?. Imagine Mastodon, but with a bloggy/(2008's facebook) vibe instead of a twitter clone. There would be no ads, because it's decentralized, just like mastodon. The feed would be chronolog…

Also in that vision: * Manton Reece's Microblog, also build on feeds * Indieweb. No feeds, just webpages with Microformats.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#362

Post by aczerepinski »

jzl wrote: post #15

It's pretty clear from some simple googling that he ended up somehow activating a feature called "Facebook Texts" (the key giveaway -- that replying to the texts posted to his wall): https://www.facebook.com/help/130694300342171?helpref=faq_co... I believe that he didn't set this up intentionally and it may very well be a bug that caused him to be signed up, but as bad as Facebook is I'll eat my shoe if they signed u…

My wife started getting these after she hadn't logged in for a few weeks. We thought it was them getting nervous about a lost user. Since she hadn't logged in, it definitely wasn't her accidentally checking a "please text me spam" button.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#363

Post by tracker1 »

tracker1 wrote: post #352
TomMarius wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's just saying that iOS had this feature way sooner than Android did

And android could sync my contacts through the cloud (google servers) to a new device and edit online, syncing the other way before iOS. What's the point?

Could whoever downvote explain? It's a feature that Android had first... The fact is, today, they both have Feature X, so debating who had what first doesn't add to a constructive argument was my point.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#364

Post by perfectstorm »

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.

That's possible. People are probably giving Contacts permission to Facebook without thinking twice.

Although I recall a comment by a Facebook engineer about how they link users based on their IP addresses. So if you and your coworker are connected to the same WiFi at work Facebook can easily figure out that you both work at the same place.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#365

Post by itronitron »

ianamartin wrote: post #258
itronitron wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people could start writing letters again, that would be interesting

Maybe you could find a way for people to even send mail electronically. Over the internet. Almost a sort of an e-mail type of thing, if one were to be so bold as to coin a new word for it. Us smart internet engineers could even probably come up with at least 5 well-defined protocols that no one actually adheres to. This could be fun!!!

we could call it pen-mail ... part of the protocol could be that only letters written with a quill pen at a desk in a room with a fireplace would be able to be digitized and transmitted through pen-mail

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#366

Post by thatshowitis »

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…

Very good example of the importance of using open protocols only. By using proprietary protocols like facebook, you completely lack control, they can change whatever they want and you have to take it or quit for good, which can become difficult when you have so many contacts only over that proprietary protocol. If your e-mail provider pulled shit like that, you could simply change to a different provider, or even use your own mail server.

Of course there is some peer pressure to join those proprietary networks. But friends will also keep contact without those networks. I never had a facebook account, never joined whatsapp, never used twitter, and am still alive!

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#367

Post by cja »

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #270
gt_ wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the example here. I want to outwardly acknowledge the obvious force that is preventing the baker from putting drugs in their recipe: government regulation and law enforcement. I am an American but I am well accustomed to learning that other countries are able to prevent certain consumer abuse before it replicates at massive scale by acting early and adjusting along the way. Does this happen in Europe?

We're just introducing the GDPR Europe wide which iterates on the member states existing privacy laws to provide definitive rights to any human in Europe, and obligations to any company dealing with their information. Abusing the 2FA number is likely illegal in most member states now, and is definitely so at the end of May.

Probably you mean EU when you say Europe

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#368

Post by cja »

Feniks wrote: post #186
tjoff wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my book this is more or less another proof that you should be vary of vendor lockin and that under no circumstances whatsoever use any such system for communication. It is bad enough to change phone number but you simply can't change facebook to something else and continue as usual. I guess this leaves email, SMS and IRC as the main remaining options. Somehow this needs to be communicated to the general public, bu…

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.

WhatsApp charged money before they were bought by Facebook

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#369

Post by wastedhours »

sizzle wrote: post #356
wastedhours wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'd say anything that faces a user in a digital experience that utilizes cheap psychological or behavioral manipulation/UI obsfucation to benefit from their interaction in achieving a desired business metric/outcome in which a user may not have otherwise consented to/authorized said interaction had the user interface been written clearly in plain language (no jargon) and accessibly designed for the common lay person…

But where do you draw the line between offering genuine convenience for the end user and UX tricks? Is underlining a link unethical because it's giving undue weight to highlight an action you want the user to notice? (I know, reductio ad absurdum, but I think it's valid to point out personal interpretation of ethics can be stretched beyond usefulness).

That's more of a rhetorical point - I don't believe most things related to "morality" can ever be as clear as black/white, ethical/unethical, and think it muddies waters to assert it does.

Considered design does not always exactly equal purer-than-pure ethical design.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#370

Post by abenga »

maus42 wrote: post #261
ReidZB wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

HN crowd is a quite special case. Elsewhere in the world, FB is assumed as to be the standard. My romantic life has been very disappointing, so some time ago I tried creating a Tinder account (it is the only dating [yes you read it right, dating, not hookup] app that has entered the popular consciousness in this country and thus has a significant amount of female users). Last time I checked, they still required a FB…

I think you can now sign up on Tinder with a phone number
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