Facebook Doesn’t Post Your Phone’s Contact List, Why The Rumor Is False
The latest in Facebook privacy controversy is a false rumor that’s spreading like wildfire through News Feeds. The rumor alleges that Facebook has harvested all the contacts in your mobile phone — everyone from your grandma to the pizza delivery place you frequent — and has published them to Facebook. The rumor has caused quite a panic among users who now think all the contact information Facebook collected throughout the years has been made public, but the thing is, it’s just not true.
In the last 24 hours, you might have seen a message like the following pop up in your News Feed:
Friends! “ALL THE PHONE NUMBERS IN YOUR PHONE are now PUBLISHED on Facebook! Go to the top right of the screen, click on Account, then click on Edit Friends, go left on the screen and click on Contacts. Then go to the right hand side and click on “visit page” to remove this display option. Please repost this on your Status, so your friends can remove their numbers and thus prevent abuse if they do not want them published.”
The rumor likely began when Facebook started allowing users to sync phone contacts. If you had the Facebook app installed on your phone, you were given this option which basically linked your friends’ profile pictures with your phone and streamlined your contact list on Facebook. That’s right — Facebook already has some of your friends’ numbers and this was merely adding onto that list which is still only visible to you.
Facebook gives users the option of entering their phone number and puts them into a contact list that was called Phonebook. When users synced contacts from their phone, it added phone numbers that weren’t listed on Phonebook so users could have one streamlined list instead of both Facebook’s Phonebook and their phone’s contact list. Of course, in order for this to work, Facebook needed to store the information from your phone’s contact list, including phone numbers, which was explained in a pop up box on the app.
Facebook cleared up the rumors themselves by posting this statement to their official Facebook Page:
Rumors claiming that your phone contacts are visible to everyone on Facebook are false. Our Contacts list, formerly called Phonebook, has existed for a long time. The phone numbers listed there were either added by your friends themselves and made visible to you, or you have previously synced your phone contacts with Facebook. Just like on your phone, only you can see these numbers.
Facebook is trying to become a main method of communication for users. Just look at the new Facebook Messenger app that launched this week. By storing your phone’s contact list, the company is able to create new innovative ways of communication and move in on companies currently monopolizing the space like Skype, Gmail and even your phone provider.
Just because Facebook has your data doesn’t mean they’re going to do something negative with it. For some people, Phonebook is an eye-opener about how much of our information is stored online. Regardless of whether or not we’re comfortable with it, we were the ones who put the information there in the first place by agreeing to terms of use without reading the fine print or not reviewing updates to privacy settings. If you’ve chosen to sync your contact list and are having second thoughts, Facebook does allow you to remove contacts by following this link.
And what of the contacts that synced over to Facebook from our phonebooks that are not attached to any profiles? Like my local mechanic, several restaurants, and young siblings?
Hi Ismael! Those contacts should still show up in your Facebook Phonebook but will not be attached to any profile. It will just be a listing with the phone number and no picture.
And that is exactly the point which you are missing, Mariel. Why does Facebook have contacts which did NOT originate from facebook (e.x. the local pizza place?) This is exactly what everyone is up at arms over: Why does facebook know all my phone contacts?
If you read the entire article you will be able to find the answers to all of your questions. In short, when users fired up the app for the first time they were presented with a pop up which explained the syncing process and asked permission to sync the smartphone with the social network. When permission was granted all the contacts on your smartphone synced with your Facebook account. Here is an excerpt from the article Mariel wrote above:
“When users synced contacts from their phone, it added phone numbers that weren’t listed on Phonebook so users could have one streamlined list instead of both Facebook’s Phonebook and their phone’s contact list. Of course, in order for this to work, Facebook needed to store the information from your phone’s contact list, including phone numbers, which was explained in a pop up box on the app.”
I use Blackberry where I had installed a Facebook app. I do not remember any popup that came up “which explained the syncing process and asked permission to sync the smartphone with the social network.”
I followed the link to delete my #’s, but FB did not respond. I have no iphone, so those #’s came from my friends? Still don’t trust that they will not get out “there” somehow. Wrong…
If you didn’t sync your mobile device, then the numbers are numbers your friends have allowed you to see.
Let’s take for example a friend of mine, who is a friend on Facebook and in the real world. Her number is NOT listed by her on Facebook, yet I go to this list and Facebook has her there, shown as a Facebook contact with her phone numbers listed below. HENCE, Facebook has now linked this person, who certainly never gave Facebook their phone numbers, to their private phone numbers.
What’s worse is, unbeknown to me, is that by me linking this Facebook contact to my phone contact, that I would have thought was private, has enabled Facebook to do this. I’m sure many people will think nothing of it, but I’ve no wish nor want to have Facebooks massive marketing database to be able to link my presense on the internet (every page with a Facebook ‘like’ button alerts Facebook that you have visited) to my real life person, especially when I had no say in it, as my friend certainly didn’t.
What’s to stop someone else syncing (uploading) MY personal contact details to Facebook!?
just txt me 09462531466
if facebook don’t use it for negative purpose, how does facebook prevention against those who hacked in to our account?