A stark new warning for almost all iPhone users, as Facebook is suddenly caught “secretly” harvesting sensitive data without anyone realizing. And worse, there’s no way to stop this especially invasive tracking other than by deleting the app.
A week ago, I warned iPhone users that Facebook still captures location data using the metadata from your photos and your IP address, even if you update your settings “never” to track your location. Facebook admits to this harvesting, refusing to be drawn on why that’s so wrong when users specifically disable location tracking.
Now security researchers have suddenly warned that Facebook goes even further, using the accelerometer on your iPhone to track a constant stream of your movements, which can easily be used to monitor your activities or behaviors at times of day, in particular places, or when interacting with its apps and services. Alarmingly, this data can even match you with people near you—whether you know them or not.
This company is doing its best to get hold of our data, and the worst thing is that it markets it to other companies and, if I'm not mistaken, to governments.