Facebook users discover social network has logged all their calls and texts

Facebook: the amount of personal data stored by the company is under scrutiny
Alamy Stock Photo
Chloe Chaplain26 March 2018

Facebook users have told of their shock after discovering that the social media platform has stored details of all their phone calls, contacts and text messages.

Following news of the Cambridge Analytica leak and allegations that the data firm harvested personal details from Facebook users to influence elections, people have begun to look more carefully at the information the social media giant has on them.

Many said they were alarmed after discovering that Facebook held far more data than they expected including history logs of private phone calls and texts and lists of their contacts.

The data included time and date information of calls and messages sent to friends and family.

Facebook has argued that the contact information is uploaded because the “most important” service it offers is the ability to connect people with friends.

A spokeswoman said it is a “widely-used practice” and said everyone is “expressly” asked permission when signing up to the site.

The discoveries were made amid the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The election consultancy firm is accused of using the personal information of millions of Facebook users to influence elections and referendums in the UK and US.

The firm has denied misusing the data.

Facebook offers a function where clients can download a zip file of their own information, which shows what the company is storing and includes details of friends, events, preferences and likes.

It also contains information of a user’s interaction with advertising and details of which third parties have access to a person’s contact details.

How to download your data from Facebook?

Click the downward arrow on the blue bar at the top right of your Facebook page.

Choose settings and click Download copy of your Facebook data at the bottom of your page.

You will then need to verify your account and enter your password before you will be emailed a link to a zip file.

Download the file to open the folders. Details of friends and messaged is listed under ‘Contact Info’.

Dean Kirby, a reporter for The i, downloaded the data that had been stored in his name and found that it had records of hundreds of text messages and phone calls.

“A folder harmlessly entitled Contact Info caught my eye,” he wrote. “I was shocked to find it contained the metadata for several hundred text messages and phone calls I had made from my mobile phone.

“While the log records no detail of actual conversations I have had with friends and loved ones, it reveals in stark terms the ordinary details of everyday private life.

“Over several years, it seems, Facebook has quietly kept a log of how often I sent a text message to my wife and for how many minutes we chatted on the phone.

“The world’s biggest social media network even knows where I go for a haircut and how often I order a curry from my local Indian takeaway.”

Many people who discovered the data stored reported feeling uncomfortable with the amount of detailed information being compiled.

Actress Emma Kennedy tweeted: “I’ve just looked at the data files I requested from Facebook and they had every single phone number in my contacts.

“They had every single social event I went to, a list of all my friends (and their birthdays) and a list of every text I’ve sent.

“They have plundered my phone. They have phone numbers of people who aren’t on Facebook. They have phone numbers of household names who, I’m sure, would be furious to know their phone numbers are accessible. I’m appalled.”

And another user, named Dylan McKay shared images of the data he had retrieved which included call history with family members including those who do not use Facebook and the details of every text message and call made between October 2016 and July 2017.

In a statement, a Facebook spokeswoman told the Guardian: “The most important part of apps and services that help you make connections is to make it easy to find the people you want to connect with.

"So, the first time you sign in on your phone to a messaging or social app, it’s a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts.

“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 can delete previously uploaded information at any time and can find all the information available to them in their account and activity log from our Download Your Information tool.”

Facebook users can stop the uploading of contacts by turning off the continuous uploading setting in the Messenger app and permanently deleting an account (not just deactivating it) will also result in contacts no longer being stored.

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