There is no privacy in front of Facebook Home

Summary

Facebook Home, an upcoming Android application, presents significant privacy concerns due to its deep integration with the operating system. Designed to be an always-on social dashboard, it could provide Facebook with extensive insights into user app usage and potentially constant GPS location data. This level of control allows Facebook to gather valuable information for targeted advertising and sales, a future use case Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged. Given these capabilities and past controversies, Facebook is urged to establish a much clearer privacy strategy, particularly for its mobile offerings.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the release of Facebook Home application. It will be available for Android users on 12th April. But there is one thing to be noted. What's about our privacy? Facebook is questioned by public about its privacy issues. Facebook Home is deeply integrated with Android and has fully control of the entry of user. This makes people who care about privacy alert. The editor of Gigaom Malik expressed his own worries in one article.

Here is what he wrote:

The new Home app/UX/quasi-OS is deeply integrated into the Android environment. It takes an effort to shut it down,  because Home’s whole premise is to be always on and be the dashboard to your social world. It wants to be the start button for apps that are on your Android device, which in turn will give Facebook a deep insight on what is popular. And of course, it can build an app that mimics the functionality of that popular, fast-growing mobile app. I have seen it done before, both on other platforms and on Facebook.

But there is a bigger worry. The phone’s GPS can send constant information back to the Facebook servers, telling it your whereabouts at any time.

After Facebook gets these data, they will use them to place accurate advertisements and do sales. Mark Zuckerberg admits that there will be ads on Facebook Home in the future. Facebook was also in some controversies because of privacy policies. Facebook needs to propose clearer strategy about privacy and data of users especially on mobile end.

Of course if you are not a social network fan, you can put away your worries.

Source : http://www.36kr.com/p/202379.html

PRIVACY FACEBOOK HOME

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