Zuck-Up as Facebook Messenger app tracks you everywhere forever

The ZuckerBorg collects so much data on its users that even visiting the site tags your ineffable soul for eternal tracking. But now a Harvard student's browser extension can now exploit the default location sharing setting to literally plot Facebook Messenger app users' movements on a map. Aran Khanna, a CompSci student at …

[Irongut]

So if an app's settings say it will share your location then it shares your location? What a revelation! He's clearly one of Harvard's ones to watch.

It required a browser extension to explain this? Next from the Dept of the Blooming Obvious:

* The Sky Is Blue Chrome Extension

* Grass is Green Chrome Extension

* Chocolate is Tasty Chrome Extension (excludes USA chocolate substitiute)

* etc

[Anonymous Coward]

California

Around here grass is brown soon to be black due to early start of fire season,

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably it's worded innocuously

Something like "this app wants to access your location" which is a far cry from "this app will spaff your location to everyone you have any contact with, even through contact groups, until you guess that some dinky little icon is actually a button that can be clicked to stop this"

Granted, the paranoid and/or previously scorched will fear the worst of any app, but there are still many who default to old-fashioned notions such as "I own the phone and it does what I tell it to", whereas the gentle readers of El Reg know that we have a revokable license to use the phone in accordance with the current version of a Bible-length EULA (available on a website, last updated at lunchtime)

[DasBub]

2/10. Needs improvement.

[Graham Marsden]

@Irongut

> if an app's settings say it will share your location then it shares your location?

The problem is not what the app says, nor even, necessarily, what it does.

The problem is that you are automatically opted *in* to such a thing instead of getting a choice of whether or not you want to allow it.

[Douchus McBagg]

weasle words

I especially like the "our users blah blah blah like this feature waffle waffle" canned facebookcome back.

I would close my account, but that would require logging in...

[elDog]

Re: weasle words

A Facebook mouthpiece told El Reg: “People share their location to better connect with their friends on Messenger. We've been listening to people's feedback and for the last few months have been working hard to improve this experience. We will be rolling out improvements very soon. In the meantime, people can still choose to turn off location sharing at any time by tapping the blue arrow in the message composer.”

Just wondering if this mouthpiece is all that's left of the excellent zuck/borg in the lead. Perhaps a nice set of lips encased in zuchitin.

[Henry Wertz 1]

Yeah but it's Facebook

Yeah but it's Facebook, I would expect nothing less than to have it not respect your privacy in any way. You know how I've avoided having it leak my info? I don't use it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Yeah but it's Facebook

"You know how I've avoided having it leak my info? I don't use it."

Genius!

[elDog]

Re: Yeah but it's Facebook

But is it using you? It takes a lot of effort to make sure that non-FB web sites don't have FB javascript injection scripts within (along with google analytics, etc.) Make sure "addthis.com" is also put on your no-no list. There are so many ways these people/robots try to track us.

[SundogUK]

Re: Yeah but it's Facebook

NoScript is your friend...

[Chris G]

I can see the future

And it very likely includes a Zuckborg just like the one in the article. A grinning vacuus cyborg with no concept of privacy, sucking up everybody's data and leaving it where anybody can find it.

The creepiest photoshop job I have ever seen.

[zen1]

I still think...

he's an unconscionable fuck.

[Stoneshop]

Re: I still think...

... to put it mildly.

[nilfs2]

If you use Facebook, you deserve bad things happening to you