Facebook is in hot water once again for how it is using the phone number users may have only provided to Facebook for security reasons.
On Twitter on Friday, Jeremy Burge, the editor of Emojipedia, called out Facebook for its phone number lookup settings. Burge found that there is no way to entirely opt out of this setting, which governs the ability of other users to find your Facebook profile through your phone number, such as by uploading their phone contacts, "and other ways," according to Facebook. The best you can do is limit who can do this to "Friends."
SEE ALSO:Mark Zuckerberg: Nobody’s perfect!What's potentially most concerning is that some people may have only given Facebook their phone numbers to enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). That is, they gave their phone number to Facebook for security, and Facebook continues to prove that it's using that number for much more.
Tweet may have been deleted
Facebook prompts users to add their phone numbers for 2FA security. However, researchers and users have discovered that Facebook was actually using the phone numbers they may have only provided for 2FA for more.
In February 2018, Facebook admitted that it was using 2FA-provided numbers to send users spammy text messages; Facebook ultimately said this was a "bug." In September 2018, Gizmodo reported on researchers' discovery that Facebook was using phone numbers for ad targeting. Once again, Facebook was using a phone number, which users provided for security, for their own financial gain.
Currently, when Facebook prompts users to add their phone numbers for 2FA, they say "Add your phone number to help secure your account and more" (emphasis Mashable's). However, Burge claimed on Twitter that they only recently added the "and more" language. Mashable has reached out to Facebook to ask whether and when it may have made that "and more" change.
Tweet may have been deleted
Still, adding a vague catch all to a security prompt is a pretty weak defense of the tech giant's activities. Facebook is saying these days that it is all about "transparency." But two words — "and more" — that fail to disclose what the company might actually be doing with your personal invitation is just like the problems tech companies including Facebook have run into with Terms of Service: they're technically covered, but don't actually provide clarity or control to users.
Mashable has asked Facebook whether it is planning to allow users to disable phone number lookup entirely, and will update this story when we hear back. Facebook users also can't entirely opt out of email address look ups.
For now, if you don't want people to be able to find your Facebook profile using your phone number (or email address), you can limit that setting to just Friends here. You also no longer have to use a phone number to enable 2FA; Facebook added support for 2FA apps including Google Authenticator and Duo Mobile in May 2018.
Then again, we all know there's only one way to truly secure your account from Facebook's settings and mishaps.
UPDATE: March 5, 2019, 1:10 p.m. EST
Facebook provided Mashable with the following response regarding concerns about its phone number lookup feature. It declined to comment on future plans for potentially disabling the feature entirely. And did not address Mashable's question about when it may have broadened the language it used to prompt users to provide their phone numbers for 2FA.
Facebook also clarified that phone number lookup refers to connecting via contact uploads, not putting a phone number into a search bar. The text of this article has been edited to reflect that.
Here is Facebook's statement, via a Spokesperson, in full:
We've been hearing questions about two-factor authentication and phone number settings on Facebook. Two-factor authentication is an important security feature, and last year we added the option to set it up for your account without registering a phone number. Separately, the “Who can look me up?” settings are not new and are not specific to two-factor authentication. In April 2018, we removed the ability to enter another person’s phone number or email address into the Facebook search bar to help find someone's profile. Today, the “Who can look me up?” settings control how your phone number or email address can be used to look you up in other ways, such as when someone uploads your contact info to Facebook from their mobile phone. We appreciate the feedback we've received about these settings and will take it into account.
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