A lot of people are reluctant to install the new - because its not new at all. Its been a published app for a long time running now. Years, actually - Facebook Messenger app for Android/iPhone. Heres what I have to say about that. But first: Whats the point of making you download a whole new app to spy on you if they could just spy on you from the other app anyways if youre so worried about them, spying... on... you? (Lazy? skip to the bottom to the TL;DR version) Messenger **needs** permissions from your phone and is telling you exactly what for. Access to your mic is to be able to record sounds IF YOU TELL IT* TO RECORD A VOICE NOTE OR VIDEO. Camera in order to take pictures directly in the app without having to leave it IF YOU ALLOW IT TO. It accesses your SMS messages IF YOU SETUP MESSENGER TO BE YOUR MAIN SMS APP - not sure if this is the same for iOS, but in Android you can have Messenger be used as your main SMS app similar to Hangouts. It reads your contacts in order to do a sync and match with existing phone contacts IF YOU ALLOW IT TO. Non of the features good ol Fox is trying to fear-monger you into not using as OPT OUT. This is all on features YOU HAVE TO ACCESS IN ORDER FOR OTHER THINGS TO HAPPEN. This is when the double-edged sword will come into play: If developers DIDNT tell users what features of users phones their apps would have access to, people would complain. Now that developers have to tell people what their apps have access to, people complain. Bottom line: If you dont believe that Facebook/Messenger isnt collecting data, dont just bother with not installing the Messenger app at all. Terminate your Facebook account. Disconnect your phone and unplug your microwave. Fox/CNN and plenty of other people are saying FB is forcing people to install the Messenger app to spy on people MOSTLY DUE TO IGNORANCE. Let it be noted that the frustration isnt directed to anyone in particular**, but to the general ignorance - which does not mean stupid - but means lack of knowledge that people have. This information is readily available on websites as to what information is collected, stored and how its handled. Last: The APP is wanting access to the information ON YOUR PHONE. At no point does or will the app share that information ELSEWHERE. This is in the Terms of Service Agreement (TSA) or End User License Agreement (EULA). TL;DR version for the lazy: Fox is full of shit. Messenger not spying on people. Take tin foil hat off. Safe to use app because no different now that its a dedicated app.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:50:24 +0000
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