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by lost_name 4821 days ago
Sometimes, I hate being such a cynical person.

I see what appears to be a fine product, which adds a lot of desirable features for communication -- chat heads look especially nice -- but all I can really wonder is what else Facebook might be mining out of my phone usage that the regular Facebook App doesn't do already. Maybe they want to take over SMS messaging on the phone completely and route it through Facebook (centralized chat, it's not even unreasonable), or perhaps automatically upload everything and let you filter expoosed data after the fact (which is too late to trust that it's ever gone). When it comes pre-installed on the phone, they don't even have to ask for permission for everything.
3 comments
freshfunk 4821 days ago
These worries are true for anything you install on Android. This is just another app, just presente differently.
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rhizome 4821 days ago
Consider the source. FB has much higher and invasive corporate and government connections who would love to use that data than the SuperGronk "just another app" game company does.
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r00fus 4821 days ago
Why differentiate? I see FB as a phishing exercise, a specific app may be more like spearphishing.
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rhizome 4821 days ago
Works for me. Phishing with a large number of beneficiaries.
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illuminate 4821 days ago
How is that cynical? Facebook's primary product is data mining. You are what they're selling. Not your content (directly, at least.)
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zem 4821 days ago
it might just be a hook to induce more people to install a facebook app and/or use facebook. i don't use the facebook app myself (as you say, i don't want facebook having access to my phone), but if i did i would see no real privacy reason not to use this one too.
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mcintyre1994 4821 days ago
Do any phones (other than the Nexus line) come without a Facebook app? It was pre-installed on my Sony Ericsson, and I can't even remove it without rooting.

This 'app' though, is much more. It takes over all your home screens, and the launcher, so if Facebook were data mining on it I believe they could have information about every application you have installed, when you use them etc. To my knowledge, apps don't get to look at that sort of stuff by default.

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sdqali 4821 days ago
I have a Samsung Note 2, from Verizone. While it came with a lot of apps I don't want (like the NHL app), it did not have the FB app.
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takluyver 4821 days ago
I've got a Samsung Galaxy Ace, bought in the UK late last year, that didn't (and still doesn't) have a facebook app.
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