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What using Facebook app on your smartphone really means

By on August 9, 2014
If you are concerned about being smarter than the smartphone,  start by understanding how Facebook affects your privacy and your money. Facebook is a useful social media tool but without knowing how things work, you can possibly compromise your privacy and pay for unnecessary charges.

Privacy

Do you use Facebook Messenger apps to get your fb mails on your phone? Well, here’s the latest news. While this apps has been optional in the past, it will soon be obligatory. That means more cellular data usage and intrusion into your privacy. A Facebook user might not realize it but downloading the FB Messenger app means granting permissions it needs for you to to be able to use it. Blogger Nick Russo explains to users what those permissions are and its effect on your privacy.

• Change the state of network connectivity – This means that Facebook can change your connection to the Internet or cell service. You’re basically giving Facebook the ability to turn features on your phone on and off for its own reasons without telling you.
• Call phone numbers and send SMS messages – This means that if Facebook wants to…it can send text messages to your contacts on your behalf. Do you see the trouble in this? Who is Facebook to be able to access and send messages on your phone? You’re basically giving a stranger your phone and telling them to do what they want when they want!
• Record audio, and take pictures and videos, at any time – Read that line again….RECORD audio…TAKE pictures….AT ANY TIME!! That means that the folks at Facebook can see through your lens on your phone whenever they want..they can listen to what you’re saying via your microphone if they choose to!!
• Read your phone’s call log, including info about incoming and outgoing calls – Who have you been calling? How long did you talk to them? Now Facebook will know all of this because you’ve downloaded the new Facebook messenger app.
• Read your contact data, including who you call and email and how often – Another clear violation of your privacy. Now Facebook will be able to read e-mails you’ve sent  and take information from them to use for their own gain. Whether it’s for “personalized advertisements” or if it’s for “research purposes” ….whatever the reason..they’re accessing your private encounters.
• Read personal profile information stored on your device – This means that if you have addresses, personal info, pictures or anything else that’s near and dear to your personal life…they can read it.
• Get a list of accounts known by the phone, or other apps you use – Facebook will now have a tally of all the apps you use, how often you use them and what information you keep or exchange on those apps.”

Money

  • Check your standard GB limit with your carrier. Softbank subscribers for example, are billed extra outside of a 5GB monthly set limit. If you are wondering how one can exceed a 5-GB limit, the answer is in how you use Facebook on your smartphone. Using a Facebook app on your smartphone means 2.6 GB of your data limit is automatically used up. Using YouTube on your smartphone may be convenient yet doing so can rack up a lot of data usage because Facebook loads all your updates up onto your newsfeed.

Solution: Go to settings menu and switch off ‘FB to use cellular data’. If you have to use FB when out and about, look for a wi-fi hotspot instead.

 

 

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