New Delhi: Facebook is cajoling its users to install its new Messenger app and soon the company intends to leave users with no option but install the app if they want to continue to use the feature on their smartphones. Amidst this, a months old post from Huffington Post is currently doing the round that warns users of the Facebook Messenger app's "insidious" terms of service.
Based on the old post from Huffington Post, new reports have started to come out, looking down on Facebook and its Messenger app. Ever since Facebook announced the Messenger app split back in April - that consequently requires users to install a separate messaging app (in order to send and receive private messages) - there has been growing privacy concerns.
What is vexing users the most is that in return of access to the free Messenger app they will be required to grant Facebook the permission to access an alarming amount of their personal data and direct control over their mobile devices, including the ability of the app to "read contacts", "directly call phone numbers", "take pictures and videos" - all without the user's intervention.
Not that users shouldn't view Facebook's new move as heavy-handed, but the issue over privacy invasion seems to have been blown out of proportion as users have already given similar permissions in the past while installing other apps from the apps store.
Most of us have been using a slew of third-party apps on our smartphones, and it can't be brushed off that we got those apps landed on our phones after granting them permission to access our personal data.
Clearing the air, Facebook says, "Almost all apps need certain permissions to run on Android, and we use these permissions to run features in the app. 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."
The move, said a Facebook spokesman, is intended to ensure that users have a consistent and high-quality experience. The free, standalone Messenger app is faster than the messaging service that's currently built into Facebook's primary mobile app.
Facebook users can also access more features in the Messenger app, such as the ability to make voice phone calls, he added.
Forcing users to install a separate messaging app on their phones could help boost the popularity of Facebook Messenger, but could also cause a backlash if users perceive Facebook's move as unjustly domineering.
Another example of Facebook's tyranny is that the company has started to move users' messages from the main Facebook app to the new Facebook messenger. And some users have already started noticing the change.
A post on the technology blog Mashable back in April was titled "11 Reasons why Pulling Messenger From Facebook Mobile is a Terrible Idea," and many people took to Twitter to post critical comments about the change.
No doubt that the new rule is forcing users to fill up the shrinking space on their smartphone with another messaging app. But ask yourself do you need another IM app?
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