In real life people think it is weird that I don't use apps; even if this is obvious to us, we are also a bunch of anarchists on a defederated internet forum. Explanations and examples like this will help us protect the normal people who don't think like us (yet).
this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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Privacy
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Ok, I'm a cranky old nerd. I'll say some silly shit here ...
Nobody should have the Facebook or Instagram apps installed on their phone.
For one thing, those are websites. You don't need the app.
For another, they kill your battery because they are so damn busy spying on you.
Really, there have absolutely always been known privacy issues with those. This whole thing was known well before they proved the exact method
Until this phone, Facebook always came installed and couldn't be uninstall without hacking the phone.
In the phones I've had, you could deactivate it even if it can't be uninstalled.
I'm not an advanced phone user, the deactivating of apps confuses me... I think I have also seen things get stealth reactivated on updates (my samsung). Hard to trust if this helps anything...
My relatives think their amazon echoes are not spying on them because they opted out of being spied on as a tangential example
This is the correct answer. When I get a new phone I rip out the bloatware and disable the rest. It usually takes a couple days to achieve a minimal but stable config. Yes updates reenable things. Maintenance is required if you want privacy.
As if they'd impose maximum penalties, no matter how deserved. But hey, fingers crossed!
And imho the whole issue can be avoided by using mobile websites and/or alternative app front-ends for meta services, if you can't steer clear of them altogether.
And blocking apps from using background data should seal the deal.
I have webrtc completely disabled in browsers.
I tell everyone, and I abide by : never use an app if you can use the website. If they only have an app be prepared to be fucked.
I also use a VPN / firewall / DNS filter (by domain and by IP). Rethink or invizible provide all 3 in 1 on android. On linux rotating VPNs, rotating local DNS resolvers [dnscrypt-proxy with local doh with blacklists], and strict firewall rules.
*Facebook* , *meta*, *Instagram* etc are blocked in and out. As are Google "safety" domains, and a lot of their APIs.
Privacy may be inconvenient, but selling (giving away for likes) your soul to the devil could cost you a lot more.
Same here, in my productive browser (Fennc on mobile, stock Firefox on desktop) WebRTC is blocked. I keep a chrome variant around in case anything truly doesn't work (Cromite on mobile, Edge on Windows, since I have to use some MS applications for work that I don't care to install on my system).
I rotate VPN servers, not services though.
It could cost Meta 32 billion.
US law: "Best I can do is 15 thousand."
EU law: "How about percentage of global revenue per infraction?"
Meta: "Okay. 0.00001%".
They don't ask them what they want to pay or what they claim the revenue was, they look at the numbers:
Art. 83(5) GDPR, the fine framework can be up to 20 million euros, or in the case of an undertaking, up to 4 % of their total global turnover of the preceding fiscal year, whichever is higher.
https://gdpr-info.eu/issues/fines-penalties/
Although realistically speaking they're probably just getting fined for one "infringement", despite committing quite a lot.
Sounds like they can't track people that don't have their app. So, not something I need to worry about.
...but what about everyone you are frequently interacting with? Not as bad obviously but I don't think you fully escape the effect is what I am saying.
That doesn't matter for this particular issue as far as I can tell. This is about tracking what Facebook a user does on their device outside of the Facebook app. Even if I used my friend's phone who uses Facebook, it would count toward their profile. Same as if someone else watches stuff on your Netflix profile.
I don't have the Facebook app nor do I have an account. This method of tracking is useless for those like me.
Facebook definitely has pictures of me that others have posted. People talking about me, etc. Not sure there's anything I can do about that.
Meta casts a wide net with all their apps. Maybe someone deletes their Facebook app but still needs WhatsApp to communicate with family, for example. I love the idea of that app in particular "not looking at your messages" while it learns about all your out-of-app browsing behavior without your knowledge or consent.
The fb share button on websites is problematic. Website tracking is problematic. Archivers are my go-to.
FYI you sound incredibly self-centered and unpleasant.
Because I don't use Facebook? That's new.
Because you indicate that you don't care if it happens to others as long as it doesn't happen to you.
You're reading a lot into the two sentences I posted. AKA, making shit up.
That's why I said "you sound" like that and not "you are". Those two sentences are all you posted. I'm just telling you how they come across to me.
Of course it's self centring; you're not thinking about the money billionaires could make from your data, you communist! How will their children eat?
Gonna have to be Wagyu instead of caviar and foie gras. I'm a monster.
I'm curious if Meta could do this with their apps, can other apps do something similar?
And how much did they profit off of it..?
I doubt a lot of Lemmy users have got those apps on their phones. Although I am curious about how it would affect people who, say, used Island or similar (leverage the Work profile) to install them as I have seen that suggested in privacy communities before. Would Meta only be able to access other apps installed to that profile - if you had a browser installed in it too for example?
If you run a web server on your main Android profile, you can access it in your Work profile. And vice-versa.
Shelter won't protect you here.