After seeing about 25 posts on this today, its clearly time for another edition of Ben responds to the latest thing the internet is overreacting about. Todays edition: The new Facebook Messenger app and all its scary permissions - is Facebook really spying on me at all times and using my camera, microphone, and data for sinister purposes? Bens take: Feel free to be upset about the amount of data apps have access to on your phone if you must, just dont single out Facebook. Most smartphone apps you install have similar asks, and for a logical reason. Without them, apps would constantly have a pop-up asking if its allowed to do something (youd find that annoying and non-user friendly real quick). Facebook is seemingly being singled out because of how much it is entrenched in many peoples social lives, as well as general user ignorance towards accepting terms of use agreements for other programs they install. People also tend to love latching onto a good evil corporate conspiracy plotline. In reality, much of the broad scary wording included in these app permissions is just due to the operating system of your phone. App makers are typically forced to use generic language that forms a standard across all apps, but the trade-off is not being able to specify what each aspect is used for. Bottom line, if youre that concerned about the man knowing your location, having access to your microphone, or seeing other data about you, youre probably better off not using a smart phone at all. Youre especially better off not using a service like Facebook. With any free service, if you arent paying, you are the product. Facebook is using you to make money from advertisers. That is what they do with your data, try to advertise to you things youre more likely to buy. If that bothers you, fair enough. But lets calm ourselves and set down the pitchforks. Until the next big outrage, Ill let the Washington Post take over from here: ______________________________________________________________ In Facebook’s defense, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for requesting these permissions. 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. 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. As with Messenger, the Kardashian game may have a valid reason to know when you get phone calls. (For instance, to save your spot before a call interrupts gameplay.) 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. On my insidiousness scale, at least, that ignorance of the devices and programs we use every day probably ranks higher than one overreaching app.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 02:03:26 +0000
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