Messenger app facebook full#

The language in the permissions 'doesn’t necessarily reflect the way the Messenger app and other apps use them,' Facebook wrote in a Help Center article designed to address what it calls misinformation on the topic.Facebook also says the quotes in the article are outdated.įacebook says it has more control over the permissions language it uses in Apple iOS operating system, which handles the process differently.Īndroid users must agree to all permissions at once, before using the app, for every feature an app might use. Facebook says it doesn't get to write its own, and instead must use generic language provided to them by Android. Much of the problem, Facebook says, is due to Android's rigid policy on permissions.

On my insidiousness scale, at least, that ignorance of the devices and programs we use every day probably ranks higher than one overreaching app.Īccording to Facebook themselves, 'the concerns about its Messenger app are overblown and based on misinformation,' as the Wall Street Journal reported: Yes, [the permission requests are potentially 'insidious,' but so are WhatsApp, Viber, MessageMe and virtually every other popular messaging app, all of which request comparably creepy permissions. (For instance, to save your spot before a call interrupts gameplay.) Even the most vanilla apps collect extraordinary amounts of personal data: WeatherBug requests permission to view your Wi-Fi network and other devices connected to it RunKeeper wants permission to read your contacts and call log even the Kim Kardashian game, which is all the rage these days, logs your location, your device ID, and your incoming calls.Īs with Messenger, the Kardashian game may have a valid reason to know when you get phone calls. Messenger needs access to your camera, for instance, so that you can send pictures, and few people would want to confirm microphone access every time they use the app to place a call.These kinds of sweeping permissions are also extremely common - probably to a degree you don’t realize. In Facebook’s defense, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for requesting these permissions. This may include any accounts created by applications you have installed.Īs others such as the Washington Post noted, however, many of these permission requests are neither uncommon nor unreasonable and aren't really much different or more onerous than the permissions required by the main Facebook app itself: Allows the app to get a list of accounts known by the phone.This permission allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call. Allows the app to access the phone features of the device.This means the app can identify you and may send your profile information to others. Allows the app to read personal profile information stored on your device, such as your name and contact information.Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your phone, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals.This permission allows apps to save your call log data, and malicious apps may share call log data without your knowledge. Allows the app to read you phone's call log, including data about incoming and outgoing calls.This permission allows the app to use the camera at any time without your confirmation. Allows the app to take pictures and videos with the camera.This permission allows the app to record audio at any time without your confirmation. Allows the app to record audio with microphone.Malicious apps may cost you money by sending messages without your confirmation. Malicious apps may cost you money by making calls without your confirmation. This may result in unexpected charges or calls. Allows the app to call phone numbers without your intervention.Allows the app to change the state of network connectivity.I've posted, word for word, a few of the most aggressive app permission you've accepted.

Messenger app facebook full#

I'm willing to bet that few, if any, of those who downloaded this app read the full Terms of Service before accepting them and downloading the app.If you're one of those 1,000,000,000 people who have downloaded this app, take a moment to read the following. Facebook's Messenger App, which boasts over 1,000,000,000 downloads, requires the acceptance of an alarming amount of personal data and, even more startling, direct control over your mobile device.