Facebook Denies iPhone App Privacy Breach

[Maura]

Facebook has today issued a statement refuting claims that the official Facebook iPhone app uploads all the phone numbers in a user’s Phonebook to Facebook without warning. Macworld reports that a Facebook spokeswoman told the Mail Online that only the user can see their Phonebook on Facebook, just as with any other online phonebooks or email lists that people are already familiar with using.

“People also have the ability to control who sees their contact information through their privacy settings,” said the Facebook spokeswoman. “This includes the ability to make your mobile number visible to only a few select friends or of course you don’t have to include one at all.”

The initial privacy scare had been sparked by an extremely detailed (and worrying) Guardian blog post by Charles Arthur, which has now been updated to include a link to a site that randomly publishes the private phone numbers of unwitting Facebook users. If you’re at all concerned about your privacy on Facebook, it’s well worth reading the whole blog post as it’s a very thorough exposition of the entire matter.

Source: Macworld