Well, maybe they can but it isn’t as bad as you may think. Many users were mad after the latest Facebook update adding support for reading your personal messages send on your Android smartphone.
Hold on, not so fast. Is is true that in the change log of the update, this function is labeled as “Read your text message” (both SMS and MMS) which is no surprise caused huge comotion, but there is more to it. Facebook has added this feature to being able to automatically read verification codes that Facebook sends through SMS to users that sign up for facebook or use the verification code to be able to log into your facebook account.
Want to know something else? Facebook has been reading your text messages for months. Back in Christmas they also updated their App, which added the following features (source):
- Your messages (read your text messages)
- Hardware controls (change your audio settings; record audio, take pictures and video)
- Your personal information (add or modify calendar events and send email to guests without owners’ knowledge, read calendar events plus confidential information, read your own contact card; modify your contacts, read call log, write call log)
How to prevent Facebook from accessing personal data
A good alternative is an app called “Tinfoil Facebook”. The app is available on the Play Store and designed to create a sandbox for Facebook’s mobile site in order to protect your privacy and to avoid the ability others to track your browsing history. It is essentially is an App similar to the Facebook app but without it accessing your personal data, if you are worried about Facebook doing so, you should definitely check it out on the Play store
