Facebook Scraping SMS and Call logs

In case you haven’t heard or know about this Facebook scraped (grabbed/uploaded and stored!) call, text message data for years from Android phones! [Read about it here – https://goo.gl/acrfJW]

[Many are saying that this didn’t/couldn’t happen on iPhones, but I believe that as much as I believe that Facebook when they say

“.. that the company keeps the data secure and does not sell it to third parties”.]

For years now, I have never used Facebook Messenger on any phones, ever; I tested the app security a couple times and during install it requested accesses to all kinds of stuff including sms and phone logs, contact information access to phone storage etc.. (I have a security extension (X Privacy – requires root) that lets you see EVERY process an application requests access to. I saw the permissions the application asked for and knew it would be bad. Looks like, I was right.

To access messenger messages I use a computer Browser or a web session on my phone set to use the ‘desktop agent’. I’ll explain that at the bottom of this post.

So what to do now if you’re one of those who have been snared:

On phone app:

How to manage contact uploading with the Facebook App.

Facebook will upload your contacts from your device if you have continuous uploading turned on. To turn off continuous uploading in the Facebook app:

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  2. Tap App Settings.
  3. Tap Continuous Contacts Upload to turn this setting on or off.

You can also tap Sync Your Call and Text History to turn this setting on or off. Syncing your call and text history makes it easier to connect you to your friends.

How do I delete contacts I uploaded to Facebook?

To delete contacts you’ve uploaded to Facebook:

  1. Go to the Manage Invites and Imported Contacts page.
  2. Tap the box next to the contacts you want to delete.
  3. Tap Delete Selected.

You can view or remove your uploaded contacts on the Manage Invites and Imported Contacts page.

Now if you wish to view messages on your phone without the FB messenger you can login to your Facebook account with a browser (for that I use Opera) and set the ‘user agent’ option to desktop – this will tell the FB servers that you are connecting from a computer and not a phone. [Just make sure the address you type in the address bar is https://facebook.com and NOT m.facebook.com – the ‘m’ sets it to mobile.

Open Opera Mobile Browser:

Tap on Opera Menu and you’ll see Settings option, tap Settings

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In the settings scroll down to the Content section and you’ll find the Default user Agent setting.

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Tap that and you can set the agent to Desktop

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Now when you open that Browser and go to a website you’ll see the ‘desktop’ version and not the mobile version. Like I said I use this for Facebook to check/send messages and also see differences in how FB presents things on my timeline based on the agent.

Block a phone number or contact iPhone

Block a phone number or contact iPhone

There are a few ways that you can block a phone number or contact.

Phone

If you’re in the Phone app under Recents, tap  next to the phone number or contact that you want to block. Scroll to the bottom of your screen, then tap Block this Caller.

FaceTime

If you’re in the FaceTime app, tap  next to the phone number or contact that you want to block. Scroll to the bottom of your screen, then tap Block this Caller.

Messages

If you’re in Messages, open the conversation, tap , then tap the name or phone number. Scroll to the bottom of the Info screen, then tap Block this Caller.

When you block a phone number or contact, they can still leave a voicemail, but you won’t get a notification. Messages that are sent or received won’t be delivered. Also, the contact won’t get a notification that the call or message was blocked.

Manage your blocked phone numbers and contacts

To see the phone numbers and contacts that you’ve blocked from Phone, FaceTime, or Messages:

Phone

Go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification.

FaceTime

Go to Settings > FaceTime > Blocked.

Messages

Go to Settings > Messages > Blocked.

From these screens, you can add or unblock contacts or unblock phone numbers.

To add a contact from Phone, go to Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification > Block Contact. Then tap the contact that you want to block. To add a contact from Messages or FaceTime, go to Settings > Messages or Settings > FaceTime, scroll down and tap Blocked, tap Add New, then select the contact that you want to block. To unblock a contact or phone number, swipe left over the number, then tap Unblock.

Filter iMessages from unknown senders

You can filter iMessages from people who aren’t saved in your Contacts.

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To filter iMessages, go to Settings > Messages and turn on Filter Unknown Senders.

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In Messages, you’ll see a new tab for Unknown Senders but you won’t get notifications for these iMessages.

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Report spam or junk in the Messages app

You can report iMessages that look like spam or junk from the Messages app. If you get an iMessage from someone who’s not saved in your Contacts, you’ll see a Report Junk link under the message. Tap the link to forward the sender’s information and the message to Apple.

To report SMS and MMS messages, contact your carrier.