Facebook Users Raise Alarm Over Posting of Phone Numbers

I deleted my FB account yesterday because of it.

This is such a weird "controversy."

1) They show you the phone numbers of your friends that have shared their numbers, which is simplifies finding them if you are looking for them

2) They show you phone numbers from your phone if you've installed the facebook app on your phone and clicked the button that says you agree to synch your phonebook from your phone to facebook.

So a user can see their friends' phone numbers from facebook and their phone on one page. Users don't see anything but what their friends want to show them, and what they explicitly chose to share from their own phone to facebook. It's just a convenience service to consolidate contacts on one page for you.

I don't see why people care about this one.

Facebook collecting tons of demographics data on users to build marketing models that they are apparently selling to online marketers? Crappy.

Facebook collecting tons of information on individual users interests to build marketing models that they are sharing with online marketer to target ads? Evil.

Facebook having giant security holes over and over that leak user data? Utterly horrible.

Showing you some phone numbers you already have access to? Eh, who cares?

They aren't shared to anybody (and they do provide a link so you can remove them), so right now, it's not really a problem.
But as we all know about Facebook, they often change their privacy/sharing without letting their users know in advance or without making it a choice the users has the option to select into (forcing them to find out by word of mouth, and then having to manually go in & turn stuff off...).
Consequently, I used the removal link to remove all my sync'd phone contact info.
Not gonna stop using Facebook over this though.

I've never shared much with facebook to begin with. Why this bugs people so much is a mystery to me. So don't put the stuff on there to begin with. ;)

if i owned a shirt that read: "i'm with hedwig" i'd be wearing it right now... then post a pic of me wearing it on facebook! LMAO!

don't get super personal on facebook or any other social media outlet people... just don't

LOL! People are so gullible!
I have FB on my smartphone (and traditional comp) and my phone# does NOT show on anyone else's phone or anything else because I pay attention to settings. All you have to do is tell it to not publish your number.

Silly silly people.

Silly silly people indeed .....

One problem I wish more people would think about is this: you can have every privacy setting on earth on YOUR account, but you have no control over what OTHER people say/post about YOU, even with the best intentions, including private information. Case in point: let's say a friend innocently posts a pic of you at the Big Godless Atheist Festival, including your full name. Employers do pre-hire searches. With the help of just a little bad luck, you can just forget about that job with Lifeway Christian Books... Friends and relatives might discuss personal problems involving you, including your full name and perhaps contact info (I know several people this has happened to.) And yes, people have been thoughtless enough to share the phone numbers of others, many MANY times. One of these days, I really will get around to deleting that FB account... but inertia is a powerful thing. :P

Is it just me, or am I the only one getting tired of people pissing and moaning about first, things they know nothing about and don't bother to verify for themselves (the phone number NON-issue) and second (and more importantly), the fact that they get to use a resource and cost intensive service for free and the provider of said service actually wanting to make a profit?

People use Facebook ALL DAY LONG. They stay in touch with people they'd otherwise have lost touch with. They find long lost friends and family. They have fun. They share their musings and engage their friends and families in ways that has never before been possible...and they get mad because Facebook helps advertisers put RELEVANT ad data on the right hand side of the page in a passive way in order to pay for everything it takes to allow you to use all those services and *gasp* make a profit?

Nearly every other site on the internet has ads. Generally, they are much much less passive (they pop over, they pop up, they are video and start playing right away, they play audio, they cover content until you click close or even have to wait until an ad plays to get to the content) and those are ok?

Seriously people, relax.

PS: Facebook cannot do anything without your consent. You consent to whatever they want every time you log in. It is part of the login process. If you choose to automatically login, you choose to automatically accept any change in terms. Beyond that, who frapping cares? Again, they're providing a service to you FOR FREE. YOU are the product. If you don't like it, delete your account. You'd be an idiot to do so, but feel free.

@Anise: In regard to your example, this is why Facebook notifies you every single time your name is even mentioned. You can go in and remove that tag if you want to. You can even set your account up to NOT allow people to tag you in photographs.

Again, the problem here isn't Facebook's evil business practices, it is people's stupidity and their lack of motivation to do things like read EULAs and manage their own privacy settings.

If a person is unwilling to take the time to manage their own privacy, they give up their right to cry and complain when said privacy is violated.

Here's hoping the facebook craze dies a swift and painless death similar to that of the pet rock.

I'm not on fb, but my cousin reposted photos I sent her in private e-mail. Using anyone's information without their consent is FRAUD.

I seriously did not understand why everyone freaked out. It's funny but the same people complaining about privacy and FB are the same people posting trillions of photos with no privacy settings; writing personal messages on people's walls; and hanging around on FB Chat all day long. If they were really paranoid about their privacy, they'd be a bit more discreet -- and would probably try to communicate more by video chat (the Video Chat Rounds app or the like). Lesson? People are morons.