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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

#91

Post by jkmcf »

fahadkhan wrote: post #58
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…

I left Facebook. But mainly because I realised that it's a real poor way to keep in touch with anyone. Gives you the feeling that you are keeping in touch when in reality you are just sharing photos and quotes in a medium that's very noisy with adverts.

If you never comment on each other's posts, then you aren't interacting. However, it is a great way to "keep appraised" of how people are doing.

There are a ton of people I've met throughout my life and around the world, but only a handful with whom I want to interact regularly. FB, annoying as it is, at least let's me know if they are doing ok.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#92

Post by codegladiator »

chesimov wrote: post #81
jnbiche wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> to scrub historical information from the platform. You know they never actually delete user data, right? They don't delete your data if you actually delete your account, much less if you just delete a post. They just stop displaying it then.

This is something I wonder about. I'm certain they never delete anything, because in aggregate all that data is surely very valuable and will be for years to come. However, I hope that by marking it for deletion, it becomes more likely that it gets stored on increasingly distant/cold media, increasing the likelihood that over the years it gets overwritten or corrupted or some drives fail. If times get difficult, mayb…

> is this just wishful thinking? Is storage too cheap?

Yes

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#93

Post by mtgx »

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…

This is also why I vented about Facebook's new face sign-in for "security". It was extremely obvious and expected that Facebook will use that biometric data for much more than just security, and in fact I was sure that security was just a pretext, and not even a top 3 reason for doing it.

Facebook is right up there with Uber in terms of shadiness. You can't ever trust them - they've shown us that too many times to count at this point. And there's no "earning the trust back" with Facebook, not that they would ever try to genuinely do that.

Oh, and Google does this crap with the phone number, too. This is why I hated it when they pretty much forced you to use a phone number for 2FA a while ago. They also know very well what a terrible 2FA option the SMS code is at this point. But they keep it around so they can get your phone number for advertising reasons, which I guess trumps all.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#94

Post by tankenmate »

tankenmate wrote: post #83
davidbiehl wrote: post #6

I found a similar thing with email notifications. If you regularly login to FB and look at your feed they will leave you alone. Delete the app from your phone or neglect logging in and you’ll start to get email notifications about the silliest things. Of course they don’t contain much more than “so and so shared a link” without any description of what was shared (trying to get you to login and look.) Not quite as bad…

I have blocked all of FB's allocated networks worldwide on my machine (via a look up of allocated IP space and fed into iptables / ipset).[0] So FB doesn't even get "phantom" traffic from me (indirect traffic from FB logos / js on random websites). I only log into FB a few times a year and only via a temporary VPS in another country and using an incognito browser tab. So now FB has taken to emailing me complaining th…

I always enjoy a wee chuckle to myself every time I get down voted on HN for expressing humour; I feel like a modern common man G.B.S.

'My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity.'

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#95

Post by tehlike »

spraak wrote: post #87
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 guess this leaves email, SMS and IRC as the main remaining options. But how are those not also vendor lock-ins?

You can text anyone on any network.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#96

Post by politician »

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…

You can file a TCPA complaint [0] against Facebook for spamming your mobile number after you've instructed them to stop ("revoked consent"). There are a number of stories about TCPA around the web [1].

[0] https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?tic...

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalnewsline/2017/09/05/tcpa-d...

(IANAL, this is not legal advice.)

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#97

Post by tehlike »

Joe-Z wrote: post #27
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…

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!

I do the same.only use it to message some people. I try to pull them into hangouts or signal because at least they are more or less jist a chat app so dont provide me useless notifications.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#98

Post by homero »

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…

Oddly enough I did consent to receiving notifications and they kept turning them off on me.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#99

Post by akvadrako »

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…

Deleting Facebook is hard but it’s the moral thing to do.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#100

Post by akvadrako »

jedrek wrote: post #90
fahadkhan wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I left Facebook. But mainly because I realised that it's a real poor way to keep in touch with anyone. Gives you the feeling that you are keeping in touch when in reality you are just sharing photos and quotes in a medium that's very noisy with adverts.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of events/organizations that organize almost exclusively through Facebook. Unfortunately, there effectively no other free platforms with a critical mass of sign ups big enough to be used in that way.

Of course there is Meetup which is certainly large enough for everything except the most niche event.
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