This happened to me a while back. So I disabled 2FA on Facebook.
Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
71–80 of 380 posts
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#72Finally, 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…
> 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?
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#73Finally, 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…
Disconnecting is the best thing you can do for yourself. This company has manipulated you so much that you're actually addicted to it. Just look at what you wrote. You're too invested and addicted to leave a website that willfully and repeatedly violates your privacy? You're better than that.
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#74Finally, 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…
> 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.
This is good news in the long term, but in the short- and medium-terms it means Facebook is going to get desperate and start deploying more and more dark patterns like the one the GP is talking about. Considering their reach, I shudder to think of what a desperate Facebook will look like for the Internet.
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#75A platform created to addict people is now beginning to act like an addict begging for a fix?
Can't wait to see what their rock-bottom looks like.
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#76Seriously, why do the rank-and-file of Facebook engineering allow this to happen? Does anyone stand up to their employers anymore? Or does everyone just drink the koolaid and ask no questions?
If you personally won't do it, the person next you, or your replacement, may. Toeing the party line sucks at any job, but it's part and parcel to receiving a paycheck assuming you aren't doing something downright illegal.
Used to be SWEs were so powerful that we could by virtue of the fact that replacing one costed so much
But now, where juniors are hired by the dozen and internships are now a seeming requirement (internships being a worker's first -- and now mandatory, it would seem -- induction into drinking the techbiz koolaid), where lifers are getting more and more scarce... I guess you're right :/
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#77Unbelievable. 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…
Another Facebook dark pattern: they hid everybody's email addresses from their profile and showed a new @facebook.com email address. They claimed they had simply introduced a new setting letting you show or hide email addresses individually. However, it was already possible to set the privacy on an email address to "only me", effectively hiding it.
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#78Finally, 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…
> 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
A huge GDPR face slap could definitely help. I'm really curious to see how this plays out.
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#79If they're not processing STOP as an opt-out, they're in major violation of the CTIA's rules on short codes.
these aren't marketing campaigns and a part of your subscribed service, they aren't violating anything, and aren't required to process short codes in this case.
Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
#80Facebook 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...
It'd be very easy for Facebook to cross-reference multiple address books (even 1 would be enough) and create "virtual profiles". E.g. if Alice is not part of the Facebook/Whatsapp ecosystem but Bob, Charlie and Donna are, and they all have Alice's phone number (unique identifier!) on their phone. If all 4 hang out together a lot and Bob, Charlie and Donna upload a lot of pictures of all of them, and they diligently tag people who have accounts, then Facebook can probably figure out the 4th person (which face they've stored for their recognition engine) is probably Alice.
And if Alice, like the poster, never gave Facebook her phone number, but Bob, Charlie and Donna have it under "Alice Lastname", and they're all friends with Alice Lastname on Facebook, Facebook can probably be certain to say "Store your phone number, we think this is it.". Or to word that properly, "Confirm your number, although we already know this is it."