Social network behemoth Facebook is claiming Android's permissions policy is the reasons users have to give Facebook extensive access and information when it comes to using the stand-alone mobile Messenger app.
The requirements have users outraged and while millions are downloading the mobile app to chat via Facebook on smartphones, they're not very happy about it.
Not only don't users want to have to use two different messaging apps, users are upset over permissions that the Messenger app requires on Android devices. For example, users must allow the app to be able to "call phone numbers without your intervention," and "use the camera at any time without your permission."
Facebook clams such concerns about the app are exaggerated and mostly due to Android's strict policy on permissions. Facebook says it is not allowed to write its own permissions list, and instead has to use generic language provided by Android.
"Keep in mind that Android controls the way the permissions are named, and the way they're named doesn't necessarily reflect the way the Messenger app and other apps use them," said Facebook in a post to its Help Center.
Users of Android devices have to agree to all the permissions that an app requires at once, but iPhone and iPad users can agree to permissions as they come up in the app. This means if an iPhone user never makes a call using the Messenger app, they may not ever have to grant the app access to use the phone's microphone.
Not only is the Messenger app subject to Android's permissions policy, but it is also subject to Facebook's global terms of use, which is a set of policies that governs the Facebook website as well as every Facebook app.
Facebook has had a rough road over the past couple years, especially when it comes to user trust. News broke that Facebook had performed psychological experiments on users by changing their time lines. This experiment essentially tried to alter users' moods based on what they read.
Facebook, among other tech companies, has been under heavy scrutiny of late to tighten up its privacy policy and be more transparent with users about what it will release, especially after ex- National Security Agency worker Edward Snowden leaked a number of documents related to spying in 2013. Facebook is also under criticism from European lawmakers after it was revealed that the social media company allegedly broke privacy laws to give the NSA access to profiles of German citizens.
