The Facebook Messenger app, which has received a backlash from users after it was rolled out a few weeks ago, has “spyware-type code,” a report says.
Security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski told Vice’s Motherboard website that he looked into the code of the Messenger app and found that it’s logging a good deal of data.
“Messenger appears to have more spyware type code in it than I’ve seen in products intended specifically for enterprise surveillance,” Zdziarski tweeted.
He also sent an email to Motherboard, saying: “[Facebook is] using some private APIs I didn’t even know were available inside the sandbox to be able to pull out your WiFi SSID (which could be used to snoop on which WiFi networks you’re connected to) and are even tapping the process list for various information on the device.”
BGR later reported that a Facebook engineer has responded to Zdziarski’s claims. “I work on Messenger. Probably no surprise that we use analytics to understand usage and make the app faster, more efficient,” he tweeted.
“Analytics showed us people were using Like stickers a bunch, so we moved that feature so people can send in fewer taps,” the engineer added.
Facebook also said, “These accusations are completely unjustified. Privacy is core to our approach with Messenger, and like any developer, we analyze usage trends to make our apps better, faster, and more efficient. As an example, with regard to what and where people tap – when we noticed that people were using the ‘Like’ stickers a lot, we modified the app so that people could send them with fewer taps.”
And the Messenger app still has a low rating on iTunes and the Apple Store.
Reads one review: “I hate this app. It doesn’t make sense to me why FB would force people to leave the Facebook app in order to view their FB messages. I also don’t think it is very convenient to have to delete the messenger app and reload it in order to change or switch accounts and see messages from those accounts.”
