Hacker News Reader

Comment by tofumatt | Hacker News Reader

There's something about the word "sync" that implies, y'know, a sync. I said no to contact sync when I installed Facebook for iPhone and that was that -- no problem.

View on HN

When the feature debuted, the thrust of the announcement seemed to be that it would populate your local phonebook with contact info and photos from Facebook. Assuming it would quite likely also do the same in reverse, I held off.

And that is what I find most objectionable about Facebook's user experience in general.

Everything I do, every click, I have to weigh: What will this mean for my privacy? Will I accidentally share something I didn't want to? I have to think everything through from Facebook's perspective and try to predict what my actions will be interpreted as consent for the system to do. It's decidedly unpleasant.

It's a little more than that when this article is stating that there's a severe privacy risk for people who don't even own an iPhone or have never installed the Facebook application. Perhaps it's not a big deal for you to have your phone number out there for public consumption, but it is for many people including myself.

Unfortunately, phone numbers have no pretense of being private. When you call someone, they get your number. Etiquette alone determines what they can do with it, and etiquette is lagging behind social technology.

> they get your number

Not if it's blocked.

I just tried deleting and re-installing the Facebook app, and was offered no option regarding sync. When/how does this choice become available?

You have to go to Friends and click Sync

Reply on news.ycombinator.com