The latest update to Facebook’s iPhone app offers push updates, which is nice. Also, the ability to sync your iPhone contacts with your Facebook contacts, which sounds nice, but ruh roh, what’s this? “Please make sure your friends are comfortable with any use you make of their information.” To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t have minded sending the info to FB, but this warning is so sketchy as to be alarming. FB is now saying that you’re not responsible for your privacy, your friends are. How does that make any sense? I wonder if this is an example of FB’s last few privacy moves. Overreach inappropriately and then walk it back if there’s an uproar. What do you think?
I did exactly the same thing, Aaron – an incredibly weird and sketchy warning. It makes it sound as if quite possibly your friends can override your privacy settings by clicking “I Agree.”
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I finally looked at the sync function and was alarmed as well. Been trying to find a more in depth privacy policy without luck. You’d think Zuckerberg would’ve learned by now…
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This is a new low! How dare FB collect my personal information under my friends’ consent!? What does that even mean? How could it be legal or ethical? Can my friend give my permission for someone I don’t know to borrow my car? This is totally ridiculous and there’s no way to opt out! The person who’s information is being stolen (let’s call it what it is) is never even aware of the transaction!
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Absolute craziness. It would have been a great feature if the app just collected the images from FB and stored them to your iphone (who has the time to take ’em?) AND DELIVERED THE CONTACT INFO THAT THE FB USER SUPPLIED ON THEIR FB PAGE to your iphone. This way you could automatically keep the contacts on your iphone updated even though your friends changed their details. But No, FB deem it right to post all the info from your phone to their site so that every friend of your friend would be able to see these details. Stupid move. The philosopy assumes that everyone who is friends on FB should have the same level of access to each other as the contacts on your cellphone. Beeg Mistook. Cellphones generate 2-way conversations where FB is mostly 1-way. Someone who is happy to post info to an FB friend doesn’t necessarily want them to have their cellphone number. For instance, I know one or 2 minor clebrities – if I click the Agree button, their cellphone numbers now get posted to their FB profiles and all their FB friends (some have over 8000!) all of a sudden have their personal cellphone numbers! Like I said, absolute craziness.
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