
Facebook tracks you on Android (even if you don't have a Facebook account) - svenfaw
https://hackernoon.com/how-facebook-tracks-you-on-android-even-if-you-dont-have-a-facebook-account-pv2u3zt4
======
sdwolfz
Here's what you can do:

1\. Install 'NoRoot Firewall' from the Play Store:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.greyshirts...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.greyshirts.firewall)
(unfortunately it is not available on FDroid, maybe somebody can suggest a
FOSS alternative please).

2\. Set it to block all traffic to Facebook with two pre-filters:

    
    
        *.facebook.com:*
        facebook.com:*
    

There are probably more domains that can be added to this list, please suggest
them.

3\. Enable the firewall, use your apps and notice which ones contact Facebook
in the 'Access Log' section.

4\. And the most important part, do something about it. Either complain to the
app developer/business or remove the app from your phone and never install it
again. This is also the most difficult part as it requires you to put in the
effort, or sacrifice some convenience, but if you are unwilling to stand up
for your own principles then who will?

5\. Spread the word, teach others how to do the same, and make the world a
better place (just don't be pushy, nobody likes that). Try to lead by example,
don't make others do something you haven't tried yourself, and explain the
tradeoffs as unbiased as you can possible be, you'll get more credibility this
way.

6\. Long term, maybe vote for politicians that propose legislation to make
such practices illegal? It's the only thing I can think of that has the
potential to improve the situation for everyone. Otherwise companies will
follow the money, and there is a lot of money to be made from surveillance in
the advertising industry, plus free analitycs tools save time since businesses
want the functionality, without needing to develop it themselves.

EDIT: formatting

~~~
hdrujvw-4579
what i use: *.facebook.com:443

note that this may cause delays with whatsapp in sending/receiving messages.
it also sometimes delays placing/receiving calls. you can temporarily disable
noRootFirewall for critical times. I don't know how whatsapp uses the facebook
domain. It clearly needs the facebook domain to work optimally, but it is not
critical.

~~~
findyoucef
Last year parts of fbs service went down. What's interesting is that WhatsApp,
Instagram and Fb all broke in the same way in that people were unable to send
or receive photos.

------
Priem19
As for the browser suggestions: it forgets to mention _uBlock Origin_ and
_uMatrix_. As far as I know you can block everything with _uMatrix_.

[https://getublockorigin.com](https://getublockorigin.com),
[https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix](https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix)

------
rvz
> Facebook is able to track you because Android developers of 3rd party apps
> (example: Indeed Job Search) implement Facebook’s Software Development Kit
> (SDK).

Shadow profiling isn't new and Facebook has been doing this for years. Perhaps
for those who are seriously on the brink of 'tinfoilism' of avoiding these
creatures who just can't stop tracking us, we need a Ad-blocker-like component
that blocks the FBSDK embedded in other apps and is enabled OS-wide. (Like a
Privacy Firewall)

uBlock Origin has done this for Firefox, Safari and Chrome, we an equivalent
for these apps. Facebook will stop at nothing to connect everything even if
you don't have an account.

~~~
e1ven
Discounting someone's complaint because "This isn't new" isn't helpful. It
doesn't need to be new to be a problem - Writing an article about it to raise
awareness is a good idea.

Calling this tinfoilism is also not constructive. The author points out that
data is being shared, in ways that even people who try to be privacy conscious
may not be aware of, or have good ways to stop.

------
panpanna
A question to the HN crowd reporting with app development: what are the
benefits of using the Facebook SDK? Do you consider these outweigh the privacy
concerns?

To everyone else: be sure to watch the CCC presentation by Privacy
International

------
itg
Would this not also affect iOS?

~~~
panpanna
The problem is not really related to the OS but the libraries used in the
apps.

Android is often used in research since it is easier to analyse an open system
but I suspect the same issues are also found in iOS apps.

There are of course some differences. For example it is (was) easier for apps
to run in the background on Android. It is also easier to detect and block
them.

------
lm28469
> her religion is Muslim

If the author(s) lurks here: her religion is Islam.

~~~
davchana
At least in my language, Muslim & Islam have been used interchangeably; like
Muslim Religion v/s Islam Religion like Christianity Religion, in Punjabi from
India. Muslim person is called Musalmaan, like Christian Person.

