Android Facebook users noticed what was happening when they downloaded their archived Facebook user data, apparently spooked by Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to Ars Technica.
It was discovered Facebook stored very personal metadata, including call logs containing contact information, phone numbers and call lengths.
The archived data also included similar data for SMS text messages, although the actual messages themselves were not archived.
Part of the problem lies in a previous version of Android’s operating system, which gave Facebook access to certain metadata by default. However, if developers used the old API to access data, they could bypass the update.
Google, which owns Android, “depreciated” the old API last October. It appears that’s when user data stopped being archived.
It’s not clear how long the data was being collected and archived.
According to Facebook, Android users need to turn off the feature in their settings. Click here for Facebook’s instructions. – READ MORE
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