> The Facebook app also appears to share numbers for contacts that you don’t have, but your Facebook friends do.
This does not happen. After syncing, the Facebook Phonebook only displays contact information you have access to. This includes: 1.Phone numbers your friends have manually added to their profile. 2.Phone numbers already in your address book.
> Facebook does this without your knowledge or consent.
Also inaccurate. To enable the syncing feature you must:
1. Open iPhone app. 2.Click "Friends" 3. Click Sync 4.Turn "On" (this page could probably be more clear) 5."I Agree" to the notice explaining what information will be transferred:
"If you enable this feature, all contacts from your device (name, email, address, phone number) will be sent to Facebook and be subject to Facebook's Privacy Policy, and your friends' profile photos and other info from Facebook will be added to your iPhone address book. Please make sure your friends are comfortable with any use you make of their information. [I Don't Agree] [I Agree]"
> the Facebook iPhone app seems to ignore Apple’s rules on user consent, specifically point 7.1 which states: “Apps cannot transmit data about a user obtaining the user’s prior permission and providing the user with access to information about how and where the data will be used.”
Inaccurate. See above. That said, it's possible the app could be more clear. I will create an internal ticket with new suggested language.
> To be extra secure, I recommend removing yourself from Facebook Phonebook though this link, which appears to be down at the moment - possibly due to high demand.
Accurate. I pinged the engineer that is working on this. Turns out they took the page down for some scheduled downtime. They're working hard to get it back online in response to this article.
Disclaimer: I'm not directly involved in this feature at Facebook (but I am somewhat familiar with it).