Vanity Fair's Maya Kosodd points out the consequences of tapping or clicking through the little popups when you sign up for Facebook: these are contracts that let Facebook do everything that you're now complaining about.
In its current iteration, Facebook’s Messenger application requests that those who download it give it permission to access incoming and outgoing call and text logs. But, as users discovered when prompted to download a copy of their personal data before permanently deleting their Facebook accounts, a certain amount of data was covertly siphoned without explicit permissions.
But, as Facebook responds:
You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people’s call and SMS (text) history without their permission.
This is not the case.
...
People have to expressly agree to use this feature. If, at any time, they no longer wish to use this feature they can turn it off
In other words, he's calling you a dumb fuck again.
Here's the screen where they trick people into giving them their call history. The contrast ratio of the silvertext is, according to WebAIM, 2:32 to 1, which fails the applicable accessibility standards for readable text.
Here you're agreeing to "text anyone in your phone," as far as you're concerned, which of course you want to be able to do--and can already do without letting Facebook track your calls and messages. Not only is this fact in small print silvertext, it's parked in an eyes-glaze-over paragraph about "continuous uploads" that uses superficially simple and approachable language to conceal what it's really about: letting Facebook track your calls and messages.
In secret court proceedings, the U.S. government is trying to force Facebook to help wiretap Messenger. Facebook has declined, so the Justice Department is asking a judge for an order of contempt.
Who Left Open the Cookie Jar? A Comprehensive Evaluation of Third-Party Cookie Policies won the Distinguished Paper prize at this year's Usenix Security Conference; its authors, researchers at Belgium's Catholic University in Leuven, revealed a host of devastating, never-seen tracking techniques for identifying web-users who were using privacy tools supplied by browser-vendors and third-party tracking-blocking […]
The year is 2031, and I'm going to see Avengers 7 in 8K-vision. I hop in my Goober self-driving car and notice something strange – my location is displayed on the Goober Dashboard, even though I opted out of Google AlwaysTrack™! There's a complete disconnect between what the user interface is telling me and what actually happens without my knowledge or consent.
Drones are undeniably cool, but not all of us have the Top Gun-level piloting skills required to fly them—unless you’re using TRNDlabs’ new Spectre Drone. Designed new and expert pilots alike, this drone is loaded with fly assist features to make piloting easy, all the while you explore using its built-in HD camera. It’s available in the […]
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The Adobe Creative Cloud suite is the foundation on which many creatives build their careers, but some of its programs, like Photoshop and InDesign, are notoriously complex, making it difficult for aspiring designers, photographers, and the like to break into their field. But, don’t get discouraged. The Pay What You Want: Adobe CC A-Z Lifetime Bundle […]
