Facebook can now read your texts

At this point I'm running at least 2 versions behind on the facebook app. I didn't install it last time it asked me to allow it to "Send emails to guests [of events] without host's knowledge" among other things. I see now that they also want to be able to connect and disconnect from WiFi.

The Facebook app is probably the fastest way to find a list of all permissions in the Android system. "Draw over other apps", "Read battery statistics". I don't know what part of facebook requires either of those options, and the mobile version of their website offers me the minimal amount of functionality I need.

The act of writing this comment has made me uninstall the damned thing. Just reclaimed 17.61MB, and probably a fair amount of space in my mind since I'll check Facebook less often.

I'm sure, as the author of the linked article asserts, most people blindly accept the permissioning changes, but I hope this permission-creep starts to cost them installs.

Everyone I know - me including - just clicks "yes" on the giant list with every second application.

It's kind of sad.

Is it possible for another app to interface with facebooks chat or do they prevent this? I remember there used to be chat apps for pc that could do MSN, AIM, Yahoo and a bunch of others.

I switched to using the mobile web version of FB on my phone because of this (and made a shortcut to it on the homescreen)... though really it's a losing battle, the real solution is to dump FB altogether.

I will say that the app provides very little that the mobile web version doesn't give you. I don't even notice the difference.

use cyanogenmod + privacy mode, you can disable what the app can do. for example, you can disable that. app still works, it just gets an empty sms list.