To say that a lot of people’s “faith” in Facebook has been shaken the past few months is probably an understatement. There are a lot of legit concerns on privacy and security and at the same time, there are also conspiracy theories and fake news going around. The social network was forced to issue an official statement about reports going around that they log people’s SMS and call history without explicit permission from users. They have re-emphasized that this feature is opt-in and can be revoked by the user at any time.
For users of Messenger and Facebook Lite on Android, you have the option to have call and text history logging if you want a more seamless experience across Facebook. You have to “expressly agree” when you want to use the feature. When you sign up or install the apps, you will be asked if you want to continuously upload your contacts as well. You can also save them on your device or computer through the Download Your Information tool.
Anytime you change your mind about having this feature, you can always turn it off by going to your settings. When you do revoke the permission, all of the data in your history log will be deleted. You can also choose to turn off the call and text history logging while still enabling your contact uploading. Facebook also assured users that the feature does not collect the content of your calls and texts, just the history log.
We can’t really blame people from being suspicious of Facebook (although we still keep using it, really) given the recent revelations about how Cambridge Analytica was able to collect information about users. But it’s also important to know which pieces of news (that are ironically shared on Facebook) are just fake or paranoid musings.
SOURCE: Facebook
