Report: Facebook scraped call, text message data from Android phones

Ars Technica reports Facebook gathered call and text message data for years from Android phones.

According to the report, information such as names, phone numbers and the length of calls made was gathered.

According to the report, Facebook uses phone-contact data for its friend recommendation algorithm. Android devices were susceptible to information leak in the past through the way it handled permissions for call logs, according to Ars Technica.

A Facebook spokesperson replied, "The most important part of apps and services that help you make connections is to make it easy to find the people you want to connect with. So, the first time you sign in on your phone to a messaging or social app, it's a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts."

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