Facebook Phone Numbers

jacksprat

Someone just posted on facebook yet another one of the websites shnakey updates that allows you to see all of your friends' phone numbers:

"FYI - PHONE NUMBERS OF ALL are now on Facebook. click on Account, then click on Edit Friends. far left of the screen and click on Contacts"

The book of faces is getting beyond ridiculous with the things its revealing without our permission..facebook riot anyone?

ciano1

Pffft.. That's been on it for ages!

https://www.facebook.com/friends/edit/?sk=phonebook

Bukit Timah

jacksprat wrote: »

facebook riot anyone?

Just stop using it. Don't cause any commotion that puts them in the news or otherwise brings attention to them. They're scum they thrive on attention and invading people's privacy.

testicle

Nothing new here, there was one of those OMG type things going around over a year ago for the same thing.

biko

After Hours - > Social Networks

jacksprat

is there an alternative to facebook? id switch without giving it a second thought,iv heard people mention "Google +"....??

The King of Moo

But doesn't that only work if they've already posted their numbers on facebook?

I've just done it on my facebook and less than one tenth of my friends and their numbers appeared.

jacksprat

pretty sure nearly all my friends have their number posted, a large majority at least! i'm not sure if mine is though

stovelid

Can't you just set your phone number so nobody can see it?

Plus if I know them well enough to see their photos and hear about what they eat, who they f*ck and where they check in, knowing their number is hardly an invasion is it.

biko

jacksprat wrote: »

is there an alternative to facebook? id switch without giving it a second thought,iv heard people mention "Google +"....??

Check it out
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056314111

28064212

jacksprat wrote: »

pretty sure nearly all my friends have their number posted, a large majority at least! i'm not sure if mine is though

So they've made their number visible to you, and you're complaining that you can see it? Lolwut?

Go into the profiles of people listed on this page: http://www.facebook.com/friends/edit/?sk=phonebook. Their phone number will be on their info page. Now go into the profile of a friend that isn't on that page. There phone number won't be there. It's pretty easy to follow

Bukit Timah

I don't know what is it that makes a person want to post their phone number on Facebook, sure nobody posts them on here right?

BrianD

FB is supposed to be a "real name" environment so the logic is that you can if you want to. Most people choose to keep their number private.

Google are also requesting phone numbers for security checks and so that they can text a PIN to you should you have difficulties with your account.

aidan_walsh

Bukit Timah wrote: »

I don't know what is it that makes a person want to post their phone number on Facebook, sure nobody posts them on here right?

I (largely) only add people I know as well as the extended family on Facebook, so they'd usually be people I don't mind having my number or being able to find it if they need it. Everyone's usage is different.

Crocked

This might be of interest, looks like facebook has been changing it's policies again. There's info on how to remove it on this link

gizmodo.com/5830163/heres-how-to-remove-your-contacts-phone-numbers-from-facebooks-clutches

BrianD

I think FB had to make a statement because of the scaremongering emails and posts that were going about the place.

The odd thing is there is a valid point to be raised about the use of mobile numbers on your phone but FB weren't actually publishing them anywhere as people thought.

Dude111

jacksprat wrote:

Someone just posted on facebook yet another one of the websites shnakey updates that allows you to see all of your friends' phone numbers

I was just going to post this but decided to search and see if it was here first!


A friend said SHE DID NOT AUTHORISE THEM TO COLLECT THIS INFO!! (I told her she should wake up and get off that piece of trash (In a nice way))


FACEBOOK IS A SPYING PIECE OF GARBAGE THAT EVERYONE SHOULD GET OFF!!!!!!

BrianD

She can only have put the number in herself.

28064212

Dude111 wrote: »

I was just going to post this but decided to search and see if it was here first!


A friend said SHE DID NOT AUTHORISE THEM TO COLLECT THIS INFO!! (I told her she should wake up and get off that piece of trash (In a nice way))


FACEBOOK IS A SPYING PIECE OF GARBAGE THAT EVERYONE SHOULD GET OFF!!!!!!

Somehow, I suspect she did. Facebook has not given her number to anyone that she didn't authorise. Facebook has not given her any numbers which she was not authorised to receive.

This outcry comes about entirely from people not understanding the concepts involved

Phibsboro

Just to clear up exactly what you are seeing when you look at your contacts. There are two ways a number may show for friends :-

1. The friend has included their phone number in their profile. This in fact was the original point a facebook which was a printed directory of all new freshers in a college with their pic, house and contact details. It would circulate only among students for that college.

2. You have Facebook app on your phone. By default the FB app syncs your phone contacts up onto your FB account. This info is only visible to you, your friends cannot access this contacts list.

The cases of 1. are reducing as people understand that if they put the phone number in their profile it will, by default, be visible to their friends.

There is a 3rd consequence of the contacts sync which results in some very strange looking entries in your FB contacts list. If a phone contact isn't currently a FB friend, FB will check if that number is listed against an FB profile. If it is, it will list that profile in your contacts list and put an Add Friend button beside that person. So people who you aren't friends with at all will show up in your FB contacts list, with their phone number listed, which looks strange.

It is this 3rd thing that does potentially have privacy issues. First off, it creates links that might not have been anticipated by the person who gave you the number. You might have the number of your dentist, doctor, teacher, solicitor etc. in your phone and suddenly you have a link to their FB profile. Or someone may have given you their number in a situation where they lied about their identity (think people playing away from home or closeted gay lads) and FB will suddenly link to their real info. Also, in theory this allows someone to find a name for a given number - just stick it into your FB contacts and see if FB finds a profile for it. Secondly, it isn't at all clear that this number search being done by FB is checking a publicly available number. Every contact of this type in my list does not seem to list a public number - it seems as though FB is using the (friends only) profile number and if their is a match it effectively says, well you have their number so are obviously friendly with them already so we are going to reveal that they are listing that number to their friends. In a way this is similar to the email friend finder.

here.from.day.1

What I'd love to know is where people like jacksprat, Bukit Timah and Dude111 come up with this complete Facebook ignorance? And to then start raving and spreading incorrect information around the place? The main problems with Facebook are the people that don't know how to use it.