Privacy Fail: How Facebook Steals Your Friends Phone Numbers

To be honest, I'll still sync my facebook with my contact list. However it is true that this truly does violate mine and others privacy and it's just another point in the long line of facebook privacy fails.

To be honest, I'll still sync my facebook with my contact list. However it is true that this truly does violate mine and others privacy and it's just another point in the long line of facebook privacy fails.

Have you find a way to erase the phonebook on Facebook?

Have you find a way to erase the phonebook on Facebook?

I just figured out the same… Accidentally I found the Facebook Phonebook, to figure out it had synced all my iPhone contacts. I am no internet/computer stranger, (in fact it's my work). I'm 100% sure I never agreed to sync my iPhone contacts to Facebook or any other internet server/application. I did however agree to sync (photos) of my Facebook contects TO my iPhone. Yet, all my phone numbers were to be found in Facebook. Hidden away and not to be edited or deleted.
I was a big (promoting) Facebook fan, but this made me not sleep last night. I feel so fooled!
When you upload photos or private info to Facebook > you do so willingly… but taking your info without you knowing is STEALING! It feels that it has been done on purpose and don't understand why so little people know about this problem..

Unfortunately… No. Looks like our contact information now belongs to Facebook…

I feel your pain. When I first discovered this, I did a quick Google Search for the issue, and much to my surprise, I could not find a single blog post on the subject. Hence, my blog post above.

Put it this way, I find it harder and harder to defend Facebook nowadays…

Please join this group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103226533…
And feel free to create one in english.

Please join this group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103226533…
And feel free to create one in english.

Dam-it, I just did the same dam thing.

Dam-it, I just did the same dam thing.

I've left a comment on your Facebook group.

Thank you so much for spreading the word. It's much appreciated

I've left a comment on your Facebook group.

Thank you so much for spreading the word. It's much appreciated

[...] Ich muss zugeben, das Thema ist nicht neu. Schon im Februar berichtete der Schweizer Blogger Kurt von Moos über das Datenschutzproblem. [...]

can you delete numbers from the phone book once added

Unfortunatelty no

Could Facebook be testing how much people are like lemmings?
http://society.oshana.org/leave-facebook-find-f…

the problem i have with it is that my number is on “sally's” phone, and it gets synced to facebook, i can't stop that and now my number is on their server. bullshit

The best way to protect your privacy on Facebook does not share any information related credit or private that you do not want your worst enemy to know. So to protect your credit and your identity is used by others are on Facebook right now and edit your profile in areas that affect your privacy.

Agreeance with most of the article, except the terrible final paragraph. It seems kurt is painfully out of touch with Facebook Core users. Though this is mildly interesting, 98% of facebook users don’t care if a phone sync’s up contacts, nor most things to do with privacy protection. Maybe by CORE you mean, lawyers, policemen and governments. I don’t care that a syncing device does this, nor will 98 out of a hundred people you talk to.
As for some privacy disclaimer how about this for the 2 % of people who seem to be out of touch with the rest of facebook’s CORE users….. You’re on FACEBOOK. It’s about connecting, sharing, and openness. There’s always going to be a lack of privacy.

Don’t like it? Leave.

Simple. But of course, we all know you will not.

[...] von Moos, who first wrote about this earlier this year (since when Facebook has revised its privacy statement, but not altered what goes on in this way) [...]

[...] concern, which is built largely off a previous blog post from developer Kurt von Moos, is that Facebook now has access to all your contact data from your phone, and he worries that [...]

[...] Privacy Fail: How Facebook Steals Your Friends Phone Numbers [...]

[...] Van Moos first wrote about this in Privacy Fail in February.  Since then, Facebook has revised their privacy policy and more recently introduced a [...]

[...] do.Apparently, the bug, which also poses as a feature for advertisers and others, was first sighted earlier this year and has been ignored by Facebook all this long. The Facebook Phonebook is one of my favorite [...]

[...] the details in this piece today by Charles Arthur in The Guardian newspaper.  Kurt von Moos, who is quoted in The Guardian piece, was kind enough to post the proof along with his comments.  [...]

[...] concern, which is built largely off a previous blog post from developer Kurt von Moos, is that Facebook now has access to all your contact data from your phone, and he worries that [...]

[...] write phone numbers or email addresses to the phone’s address book. It did, as Kurt Von Moos pointed out back in February, grab your entire address book and send it back to Facebook servers. That changed [...]

[...] didn't write phone numbers or email addresses to the phone's address book. It did, as Kurt Von Moos pointed out back in February, grab your entire address book and send it back to Facebook servers. That changed [...]

You can delete them. The link is on the right-hand-side of the Phonebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/contact_importer/remove_uploads.php?r=%2Fphonebook

[...] write phone numbers or email addresses to the phone’s address book. It did, as Kurt Von Moos pointed out back in February, grab your entire address book and send it back to Facebook servers. That changed [...]

[...] worried should Facebook users be that the social network is making it a little too easy for private phone numbers to be shared? [...]

The best way to protect your privacy on Facebook does not share any information related credit or private that you do not want your worst enemy to know. .That’s what i also believe.

great article.Good to know about it. thanks.

Thanks for giving me a break from work! Keep some good things to read.i Agree with most of the article.

Me also noticed this few days ago. Some of my female friends has informed me about this and they really feel unsafe of this. I request Facebook team to take quick action.

98% of facebook users don’t care if a phone sync’s up contacts, nor most things to do with privacy protection. Maybe by CORE you mean, lawyers, policemen and governments. I don’t care that a syncing device does this, nor will 98 out of a hundred people you talk to.

good site.

Facebook does not share any information related credit or private that you do not want your worst enemy to know. .That’s what i also believe.

thank you for your information.

I woke up last week and went to edit a friend and saw a phonebook app. opened it up and all my friends phone numbers were made public by face book . I am a real estae agent with all my clients private numbers in my phone and e-mail. So far my clients numbers havent been added to it yet but this worries me. I did not use the contact sync and truthfully wasn’t aware of an phonebook app. I dont share my contacts with anyone. I dont upload photos or anything from my phone to facebook. Now I cant delete my friends unlisted numbers..I called verizon and actually had to put an internet block on my and my families phone so it cannot steal from my phone again. This is freaky

At least, third parties can’t do that. Mostly.

Facebook does not actually provide a mechanism for users to close their accounts, and thus raised the concern that private user data would remain indefinitely on Facebook’s servers.However, Facebook now gives users the options to deactivate or delete their accounts, according to the Facebook Privacy Policy. “When you deactivate an account, no user will be able to see it, but it will not be deleted. We save your profile information (connections, photos, etc.) in case you later decide to reactivate your account.” The policy further states: “When you delete an account, it is permanently deleted from Facebook.A third party site,USocial, was involved in controversy surrounding the sale of fans and friends, but it received a cease-and-desist letter from Facebook.Facebook had allowed users to deactivate their accounts but not actually remove account content from its servers. A Facebook representative explained to a student from the University of British Columbia that users had to clear their own accounts by manually deleting all of the content including wall posts, friends, and groups.Facebook subsequently began allowing users to permanently delete their accounts. Facebook’s Privacy Policy now states: “When you delete an account, it is permanently deleted from Facebook.Its better for all of us to leave facebook and join another social networking site like http://incliq.com/ , because it protect our privacy with its technology.

they can’t sell that info, they don’t even share it without your consent. OH NO A PHONE NUMBER IS SITTING ON A SERVER DOING NOTHING!

if you added them from your phone, yes. If your friends said, FACEBOOK, this is my number and let brunetbeauty88 see it, then no.

Privacy Fail: How Facebook Steals Your Friends Phone Numbers

People should care about any application before they open it. If you accidentally or interestedly accept any application just remove them from privacy settings. Thanks.

Linking every single instance of the word “Facebook” to the site is unhelpful and visually distracting. Is this a trick to bolster your search rankings?

I didn’t noticed until I read your comment….

Facebook has now more effective privacy policy. This problem has been solved already. It can now protect your privacy better than before.

[...] [...]

hai

[...] von Moos, who first wrote about this earlier this year (since when Facebook has revised its privacy statement, but not altered what goes on in this way) [...]

this is very serious… please read… I have just gotten prof that facebook sells your phone number..
read:

I am in the middle of bankruptcy due to being unemployed for nine mths… like who isnt…

To avoid harrassment my attorney suggested i get a new phone and number with a friend’s plan.

The friend, bought a new droid four weeks ago, registered to THEIR verizon account. My NAME was not associated with this phone number in any way.

I have been using the phone for three weeks – and silly me decided to turn on the facebook phone app so i could send pics from my phone to my facebook account. I noticed that suddenly all the phone numbers of facebook friends were now loaded on my address book… I never wanted them. so i ignored it not thinking there is a reverse flow of info from my number to theirs.

Now I HAVE never set up voice mail on the phone and when i first started using it people receiving calls from me would just get a number… not my name.

Two days ago I got a strange call from a number i did not recognize. I did not answer it.

I had barely given the new number out to family let alone friends.

I reversed the phone and did not recognize the location even though it was a local within 40 miles number.

I had my son (20) call the number to inquire who it was…. When the person answered he said… “I would like to know who this is please you keep calling my phone.

The caller said… “oh I was looking for ******* is she around..” using my facebook name… not my real one.

He told them to stop calling it was a new number for him….

I could not figure this out until i recognized that NOW… when i use that phone and call someone instead of just having a number come up on caller ID…. everyone i call gets my name

exactly as it appears in facebook!

It took less than two weeks for facebook to take my name and put it on a list and sell it off.

I have never listed any phone number on my facebook account.

I have never played a game or accessed an app… each time they ask for my phone number for this or for “security” i simply ignore it and dont use the app.

I have set my security on facebook for the highest it can go…. only friends can contact me.. only friends can see my posts… etc.. I dont subsribe to any apps or services.

So how did this person find me? on a new number not even registered to my name?

facebook took it from my new droid and sold it!

please alert people

This is not true…. facebook DOES sell your number read a recent blog i just posted…

this is some seriously scary shit that shouldn’t be happening anyway

While this is an issue with Facebook, its equally an issue with iPhone. Windows phone apps require explicit permission to access sensitive information (location/contacts). Yet it manages to provide deeper facebook integration in general.

I hear this all the time… “Facebook (or Google, etc.) has changed this feature and now you have control over your private info…” What makes you think these companies will maintain a stance of strong privacy protection when they’ve so often demostrated a cavalier, even hostile approach to privacy issues in the past? So they’ve fixed this for now. What’s next? What are they CURRENTLY doing with our information that we will discover next month? We live in a world where private information is increasingly availble, and much of it we cannot control. But why would anyone intentionally upload not only their own, but other people’s private information to a social network known for its privacy disasters?

Teepo, you make some very good points about openness and sharing being the primary drivers for participating in a social network such as Facebook. Unfortunately, FB is taking info from your contact list, related to people who are not using facebook, storing it and selling it. YOU may give FB permission to share your own info, but it’s eggregious for FB to take my phone number from your contact list since I haven’t given permission.

Not so…. why would FB bother to store it if they dont plan to use it? In fact they use it to match up people who may know each other, and as their privacy policy is subject to change, you have no idea whether your privacy expectations and settings today will be in effect next month. The comment that they don’t share it without your consent is naive.

[...] von Moos, who first wrote about this earlier this year (since when Facebook has revised its privacy statement, but not altered what goes on in this way) [...]

My daughters phone number is coming up on my friends phonebook contacts even though she isn’t on Facebook and is only 10.  It has taken her number from my phone and uploaded it to some of my friends and I can’t take it off! i’m absolutely furious about this as her number is just for close family only.

I’m a palm pre user and facebook jacked my numbers also. Have you found a way to un-do this yet?

For Android there is no was to disable this from happening through the Facebook application.  Way to go developers!!! 

What you can do though is this, go into Facebook under Account and Edit Friends.  On the right-hand side ….Click “Contacts” (here is where you will see your phone contacts listed)Click the link “this page” under “Phonebook Contacts” to the rightClick “Invites and Imported Contacts Page” link in the 1st sentenceChoose in the drop-down field “No, do not remind every 2 weeks.”Check the “I understand the consequences.”Finally click the “Remove All Imported Contacts” button.From this point go to your contacts and remove any or all phone numbers you feel should not be there.Hope this helps some.

Not sure why my post ran altogether above.  I’m going to try and add page breaks this time to see if it helps.  if it doesn’t, my apologies.For Android there is no was to disable this from happening through the Facebook application.  Way to go developers!!! What you can do though is this, go into Facebook under Account and Edit Friends.  On the right-hand sideClick “Contacts” (here is where you will see your phone contacts listed)Click the link “this page” under “Phonebook Contacts” to the rightClick “Invites and Imported Contacts Page” link in the 1st sentenceChoose in the drop-down field “No, do not remind every 2 weeks.”Check the “I understand the consequences”Finally click the “Remove All Imported Contacts” buttonFrom this point go to your contacts and remove any or all phone numbers you feel should not be thereHope this helps some.

Thanks so much for pointing this out. It’s quite outrageous – though I guess par for the course when it comes to Facebook.

I think FB accessed it via your smartphone. It accessed mine when I was using my blackberry.

You stated the problem but you didn’t give an answer how to get rid of it.  I have a Blackberry and I want to eliminate this.  HOW?

You gave us a one time answer, but does this prevent your contacts from continually being synched by facebook?  I have a Blackberry and need to know how to de-synch it.

I dont have a smart phone nor  have i ever synced my phone with FB: how could I? Yet I have a Phone Contact List on FB?

This is stupid. 

(1) Just as in gmail, IF you choose to upload your contacts to Facebook, you ARE making the decision to upload other people’s phone numbers to Facebook…so, you’re making the decision about THEIR number anyways.

(2) When installing the Facebook app (or enabling any mobile features), you are explicitly warned of what data Facebook will have access to. So you do get to choose, even if you might have to avoid using the Facebook app to avoid FB ever having your numbers.

(3) Once they DO have your contact list, you can opt out.

So, ultimately, all Facebook did was allow you to chose to upload data you already know for your own personal use on Facebook’s website. Out of all the privacy issues i’ve seen Facebook go through, and all the mistakes they’ve made, this is by far the stupidest one to complain about. Are you going to go around and complain that people can make google aware of your friends’ phone numbers? 

Maybe Facebook’s interface has always sucked – but if you ARE that worried about Facebook having your phone numbers, you should probably READ the part that says “Facebook will have access to your contact list” when you install the app. 

Fact is, if you missed that little notice when you installed the app, the only reason you KNEW they had access was because of the new feature. An unscrupulous programmer could have just put that permission in and datamined everyone’s contacts and never actually used it to implement a useful feature, and few people would have ever even asked why FB needed their contact list. 

My iPhone sync in the Facebook app wasn’t even enabled and it still picked up numbers for my contacts. How is that even possible?

Facebook as been doing this for a while now ive posted this on my fb wall over and over few took attention to it 
Frankly Fb is wrong and until someone takes them to court they are not gonna remove the app.
Hackers Anonymous is planning an attack  shortly so be WARNED

I havea BB torch and have just installed the latest version of FB. I was not asked to sync contacts at all and ws not asked to upload aything but when I checkedall my contacts were uploded i have complained to FB about this but doubt I will get a response I have removed the contacts but they shoud have asked first!

Thank you Padge, I have been messing with the settings in my BB for hours trying to get my contact numbers out of FB

 and solved the problem in seconds with your advise

this is a ridiculous comment. You must work for facebook.  I personally never chose to upload my address book to facebook, and never installed the app, it was done at the carrier store. I have a BlackBerry and there is no visible sync feature.  IPhone apparently has one, BB does not.  I have  never seen anything that reads ‘facebook will have access to your contact list’. Are you kidding?  This is so not a useful feature..why would I need all my contacts who are not facebook friends to be listed on facebook? Silly, I can’t even believe I’m commenting…
 

you are wrong. Just the opposite. Privacy is important to most people

[...] http://kurtvonmoos.com/facebook_steals_contact_info/ [...]

I deleted the FB app and go to FB via my browser directly.  That has STOPPED all syncing from my very personal PRIVATE DATA up to their (FB) databank.

Hello all.
I have the same problem with my Iphone contacts going public on FB.
Ive made sure the Sync option is disabled on my phone, and asked FB to delete all my contacts from the site (even got a mail from FB saying: “As you requested, your imported contacts have been removed…”). But still all my friend can see all of my contacts!

Does anyone know how to disable that and make sure my contacts are deleted from my friends list?

Thanks.
Billy.

Same with me.  I’ve deleted the FB app from my iPhone, and still the contact information is on FB.  I just selected the “remove” choice at the FB site.

this is a crock of doo doo. what you are looking at [your phonebook]  is a list of numbers for YOUR friends. its in YOUR accounts area -and  thus NOT VISIBLE to anyone else but YOU .. or a hacker. [always possible - and not FB's fault per se]. 

FB sync from a fone gives a full screen alert that you must agree to – that tells you EXACTLY what it’s doing and asks you to agree or NOT.  http://bit.ly/pdQ3s6   try it … it wont post anything either way without you agreeing. If your number is in your profile and you’ve not set your security preferences to hide it then it will be displayed as per these settings. If you don’t want information available DONT PUT IT IN YOUR PROFILE! it’s easy!
I’m no big fan of Zuckerberg and Co but they give you a sensational social networking tool for FREE. It’s idiocy IMHO to suggest that FB are going to do seriously dodgy things with private data. They need us to like them. Imagine if they were exposed like the News of the World lot???  how many ppl would lose their jobs – and Zuckerberg and Co would lose billions off their asset.  If you’re concerned about security – it’s easy : don’t put anything online that you don’t want shared. The internet is a vast UNSECURED network. This isn’t Facebook’s fault. They’ve even enabled SSL unlike most other SN portals. (look it up if you don’t know where its enabled) Their biggest mistake is perhaps to make FB quite customisable [which creates complexity which is clearly confusing most of you here]. 

OK Ken so my can MY sister see MY friends who are not on FB? why are MY contacts VISIBLE to HER? she called out a list of people I know who she doesn’t know with their numbers.  Oh and I didn’t get any screen alert I don’t have an IPhone.  I’m not too sure whether FB know that they have published other peoples contacts on other peoples contacts list? I would be mortified if someone called up my granny because they found her number on their contacts list and so would she!

[...] those of FB non-members. This feature is actually live since February 2010, when it caused some [...]

Very well spoken sir. Now, this calls for a lawsuit! Or an angry mob, or a conspiracy forum, depending on which I decide sounds more fun overall. I’m gonna send this page to people I know, probably. Have a good one.

HI, I registered a facebook account and the next day when i went to logg in to look around It was asking me for my phone number so it could verify my account as they had locked me out. I didnt want too but i gave them my phone number as i was reading on line and was under the impression that this was their new security measures. ANYWAY….. i finally get back into my account and i see one of my friends profile photo under ” you might know this person” tab or something like that….on the right hand side.NOW i have not told anyone that i am on facebook, I have no friends added to my facebook account…so no one could have been linked…..how on earth did facebook know that this was MY friend? the only way was via my phone number that I had given facebook to verify my account. They must have scanned the numbers and matched it with her facebook account or something……. NOW i think this is an invasion of privacy!

Sorry i meant to say her profile pic was under the ” PEOPLE I MAY KNOW” SECTION

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Hi, I think I was about to sync my phone calendar via a hosted server, but then wondered – what actually is sync-ing doing?  Am I permitting so much?  Thanks

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My Android based phone pulls phone numbers from Facebook… within thirty seconds of setting up Facebook on my phone, my phone’s address book was full of numbers and pictures for all my Facebook friends who have numbers listed. The same thing that’s supposedly a ToS violation. What the…?
For what it’s worth, I don’t see the problem with that particular transfer – it’s just populating my address book with data I could get by clicking onto their profile anyway – including from my phone – so what’s it matter? It’s actually incredibly convenient. Why Facebook now apparently forbids this while allowing it to happen the other way, which is a VERY different matter, is beyond me.

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