Facebook temporarily stops games from accessing phone numbers and addresses
Well, it looks like you're safe... for now. All Facebook reports that due to (expectantly) unsavory feedback over the weekend as a result of the recent privacy changes to Facebook applications, the functionality has been disabled for the time being. That means games will not be able to access your phone number or address until Facebook reinstates the function. Why they've introduced this functionality at all is beyond me (but I have a hunch), but this is what the company had to say in an official blog post last night:
Over the weekend, we got some useful feedback that we could make people more clearly aware of when they are granting access to this data. We agree, and we are making changes to help ensure you only share this information when you intend to do so. We'll be working to launch these updates as soon as possible, and will be temporarily disabling this feature until those changes are ready. We look forward to re-enabling this improved feature in the next few weeks.
Before making the above statement, the Facebook team mentioned that it has made accepting the terms of applications and games an explicit process. They also hinted toward the purpose for the change and wrote, "With this change, you could, for example, easily share your address and mobile phone with a shopping site to streamline the checkout process, or sign up for up-to-the-minute alerts on special deals directly to your mobile phone."
In other words, it's for advertising and marketing purposes. (Did you really expect anything else?) According to Facebook, this feature isn't going away, it's just going through some "changes." So, stay tuned for when it finally does go live once again and check out our guide on how to prepare for it.
Obviously, most of you probably believe that this change shouldn't be reinstated period, but that's just wishful thinking. So, how do you think, if at all, Facebook can bring back the feature while appeasing to both the dissenters (us) and the loyalists (the advertisers)? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
