Why You Should Delete Your Facebook App - Forbes

A stark new warning for almost all iPhone users, as Facebook is suddenly caught “secretly” harvesting sensitive data without anyone realizing.

New Facebook warning for millions of iPhone users as secret user tracking suddenly exposed.

A week ago, I warned iPhone users that Facebook still captures location data using the metadata from your photos and your IP address, even if you update your settings “never” to track your location.

Facebook admits to this harvesting, refusing to be drawn on why that’s so wrong when users specifically disable location tracking.

Now security researchers have suddenly warned that Facebook goes even further, using the accelerometer on your iPhone to track a constant stream of your movements, which can easily be used to monitor your activities or behaviors at times of day, in particular places, or when interacting with its apps and services.

You are not warned that this data is being tracked, there is no setting to enable or disable the tracking; in fact, there doesn’t seem to be any way to turn off the feature and stop Facebook (literally) in its tracks.

Researchers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk warn that “Facebook reads accelerometer data all the time.

If you don't allow Facebook access to your location, the app can still infer your exact location only by grouping you with users matching the same vibration pattern that your phone accelerometer records.”.

If you think this is spurious, Facebook actually has a patent application to use wireless phone signals to connect strangers, and even cites the example of just such a bus ride, “it can be advantageous to provide an approach for users, who have met or have likely met, to connect with one another if they so choose.” Remember, none of this information exists in isolation, Facebook’s trillion-dollar magic is joining the data dots.

While Facebook reads the accelerometer all the time, Instagram only reads it when the user is texting in the DM.

If you use the Facebook app on your iPhone, then you essentially give Facebook permission to access data and information on and about your phone.

The accelerometer should not be a free-for-all, not when data giants such as Facebook can use this as yet another data point to feed into their algorithms, plotting social graphs and tracking locations and behaviors.

“This permission needs to be restricted along with other obtrusive data tracking especially if users were previously unaware this information was being analyzed.” And it’s that lack of awareness that is most critical here.