Facebook: a new problem of private data discloses your phone number

The dual authentication system set up by Facebook does not hide the phone number of the user. Worse, the social network is accused of using them for its advertising partners.

The criticisms against Facebook have multiplied after a tweet denouncing the management of the confidentiality of phone numbers by the network. To use dual authentication , it is mandatory to enter a phone number to receive the confirmation code. Unfortunately, the site offers no way to make this number strictly confidential.

Anyone can search on a phone number to find a profile. The social network makes it possible to limit this information to friends, friends of friends, or to make it public, this last parameter being the default setting. He therefore offers no option to make his number completely private, the height when it is communicated only for a security function.

Numbers used to better target advertising

In response to the criticism, Facebook has nevertheless taken a step in the right direction by removing the direct search made  by entering the number in the search bar. However, it is still possible to perform this search by other means, for example by communicating his directory to find his contacts on the network.

Directly interviewed by our colleagues at TechCrunch on the possibility of disabling this parameter, Facebook has handled the language of wood indicating that it does not communicate on future projects. In addition, the site Gizmodo had revealed, a few months ago, that the social network uses the mobile number as a unique identifier to display targeted advertisements. It is up to users to choose between security and privacy …