So many people use Facebook that I feel compelled to write about it. So I do! All my mobile technology books discuss using the Facebook app. Upon further scrutiny, it appears that installing that app may not be in your best interest.

Part of the process of obtaining any app for your Android mobile device involves reviewing the app’s permissions. This feature is offered by the Google Play Store as a way of letting you determine whether the app is really something you need or not. Lamentably, most people ignore the permissions screen.

As an example of how to use that screen, most apps monitor the phone’s status. This makes sense: You don’t want a game to ignore an incoming call. By monitoring the phone’s status, the game can suspend itself and let you answer the call.

The Facebook app’s permissions are shown in Figure 1. Pay attention to three items: SMS (text messaging), Phone, and Camera/Microphone.

Figure 1. The Facebook app’s permissions. (Click to embiggen.)

From the permissions screen shown in Figure 1, you see that the app can read text messages, make phone calls, and take pictures or record audio. Once installed, you have no control over when the app chooses to do so. You don’t even need to be signed into the Facebook app for it to wrest control over those features on your mobile device.

Scary?

Look at the permissions for the Facebook Messenger app, shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The Facebook Messenger app’s permissions. (Click to embiggen.)

The Facebook Messenger app — which you don’t need in order to use Facebook — not only can take pictures, record audio, and make phone calls, it can send text messages.

Remember, an app that can send text messages or place phone calls can add charges to your phone bill. Why would it do that? I don’t know why or even whether it would, but by installing the app, you grant it permission to do so.

I’ve read elsewhere that Facebook asks for access to text messages because it wants to know who you’re texting and what topics you’re discussing. Apparently it uses that information for some purpose, which isn’t explained in the app’s description.

And people get upset about the NSA spying on the public?

My advice: Remove both apps. I’ve heard that they’re un-installable, but that’s not true. I’ve removed them from my phone fairly easily. Specific directions for uninstalling an app are found in my various Android For Dummies titles.

Whether Facebook is spying on you or not is moot. Their apps are fully capable of doing so. Given that no one has yet invented a tool that hasn’t been used, my guess is that the Facebook app will take advantage of the phone’s features you’ve granted it permission to use. The only way to avoid that situation is not to download or use Facebook apps in the first place. That’s a good decision.