‘Creepy’ Facebook logs personal texts and phone calls

Facebook has collected detailed phone records of millions of users including who they spoke with or sent messages to and when.

Thousands of people have downloaded the data that Facebook holds on them over the past few days because of privacy concerns however, some people reported that the files contained “creepy” and unexpected data. Picture: AFP

Facebook has collected detailed phone records of millions of users, including who they spoke with or messaged and when.

The company said it gained the permission of Android phone owners to gather this data when they signed up to Facebook apps and agreed to share their contacts. However, many users were taken by surprise.

Thousands have downloaded the data that Facebook holds on them over the past few days because of privacy concerns sparked by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The British firm could collect the data of 50 million Facebook users because of a lack of controls to prevent developers selling data to third parties.

Many people are now deleting their Facebook accounts and downloading their data. However, some people reported on social media that the files contained “creepy” and unexpected data, including the call logs.

Dylan McKay, a software developer in New Zealand, said on Twitter: “(I discovered) a historic record of every single contact on my phone, including ones I no longer have: metadata about every text message I’ve ever received or sent, and the metadata of every cellular call I’ve ever made, including time and duration.” He said the log was of all calls and texts, not just messages sent via the Facebook Messenger app, and described the find as “pretty chilling”.

Mat Johnson, an author and professor of creative writing in Texas, wrote: “Oh wow. My deleted Facebook zip file contains info on every single mobile phone call and text I made for about a year. Cool. Totally not creepy.”

Some feared the information held could be highly sensitive.

Facebook collects information on its users, analysing their posts, interactions and “likes” and buying further information from data brokers. It also uses “cookies” to track users’ movements on other websites. It uses the information to show people relevant posts in their newsfeeds and to target advertising, but critics say it amounts to intrusive surveillance.

The company said it sought users’ permission to access their contact lists and call logs and insisted the trawling of contact details was normal practice to make apps easier to use.

Facebook said in a statement: “Contact uploading is optional. People are expressly asked if they want to give permission to upload their contacts from their phone — it’s explained right there in the apps when you get started.” People could delete uploaded information “at any time’.

The Times