New report claims Facebook has been using Android users’ personal data for years

Amid Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica’s controversy, another report has come to the surface claiming that the company has been tracking all the phone call and text message data on Android devices for years.

Because of the ongoing data breach scandal by Facebook, few users started to download their data from the social media site and uncovered detailed phone records including the call lengths, date and time, recipients and even phone numbers in their downloadable Facebook data file.

This gathering of data was only seen in Android devices when people allowed certain data approvals requested by Facebook to improve its friend recommendation and differentiate between business contacts and true personal friendships. When the access is granted, the company uses the device’s contact details and even the Messenger app, when granted permissions, gets access to all calls and text messages on the Android devices, reported Mashable.

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However, Ars Technica found out that the update after Android’s Jelly Bean version switched off all these into discrete permissions but, still didn’t affect the Android apps that had already been granted access. Thus, if someone is a long time Android user, Facebook has been gathering their call and text data since a long time.

Moreover, people took to social media site Twitter, sharing screenshots of the details. However, Facebook then published a ‘fact check’ article that showed how the call and text history log is an opt-in feature in Messenger and Facebook Lite on Android devices but, did not mention the purpose it needs the data for.

“The most important part of apps and services that help you make connections is to make it easy to find the people you want to connect with. So, the first time you sign in on your phone to a messaging or social app, it’s a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts,” said a Facebook spokesperson, in response to a query from Ars Technica.