Facebook/Twitter apps & combos & SECURITY

[MiscBec]

Hi,

I've yet to download either a Twitter or Facebook app for my new phone, largely because the official apps have horrible ratings and require the acceptance of what seems to be an extraordinary list of permissions. Since I'm a little hesitant about giving either company free reign over my phone and any info I might have on it, I'm wondering how others have dealt with this situation? Is this just a fact of using these services? Or are there other apps that allow you to access your Twitter and/or Facebook accounts without drawing in any other possible accounts you might have on your phone? I'd prefer to keep the services in their own silos if possible, since the amount of personal info I share with each varies, and for a reason (e.g. Google has a vast amount more, by virtue of the fact I own an android, gmail, google checkout, etc.).

That's why I'm also debating the logic of a service like tweetdeck that wants to combine both twitter and facebook. I know in reading the privacy policy for Seesmic I found a great little sentance: "By making available any User Content through the Site and Services, you hereby grant to Seesmic a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast and otherwise exploit such User Content only on, through or by means of the Site and the Services." So in using that service for Twitter and Facebook, does everything I post on Facebook (e.g. photos, etc.) become available for their commercial use, as long as it's done through their site?

I'm sure I sound like someone who lives in a room with padded walls in a suit of tin-foil.. so I'd love to hear how others have manouvered through this and found a way to strike a balance between keeping their data safe and still being able to go outside

I'm just an overwhelmed newbie here, so patience and any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

 

[AngryHatter]

If you accept the premise of FB to begin with, i.e. they own what you post, then yes your hat seems to be very shiny.
I use the regular, indigenous apps which already know my phone.

This is a price we pay for such wonderful integration of the world.

 

[chanchan05]

It means that they have access to your posts and that it can be "retweeted" whenever, or than when they make ads using screenshots of the app, and if by chance your tweet was included, its part of the agreement you made.

As for the long list of permissions for apps, its due to certain features. For example, the Facebook app needs to have access to and modify sd card content for the pictures you want to upload, it needs GPS access for check-ins, it also needs access to certain content to play videos. If you're wary of giving apps permission, get official apps, afterall, you already gave their web versions access to your personal life.

 

[MiscBec]

It means that they have access to your posts and that it can be "retweeted" whenever, or than when they make ads using screenshots of the app, and if by chance your tweet was included, its part of the agreement you made.

As for the long list of permissions for apps, its due to certain features. For example, the Facebook app needs to have access to and modify sd card content for the pictures you want to upload, it needs GPS access for check-ins, it also needs access to certain content to play videos. If you're wary of giving apps permission, get official apps, afterall, you already gave their web versions access to your personal life.

But again, even with the official apps- they are ones that seem to want the most control, and I didn't give facebook's web version access to the data stored in my Google account (which the app permission requests- it appears to me). And that's the distinction I'm trying to figure out here- when I'm giving these services broader access than they already had- which seems to be the case by their permissions structure.

And if Tweetdeck, for example, displays my facebook wall, does that all become re-tweetable? Is that what you're saying? And in which case you that just override what ever privacy settings I had set up in facebook for the things I shared?

Thanks for your help on this.

 

[MiscBec]

If you accept the premise of FB to begin with, i.e. they own what you post, then yes your hat seems to be very shiny.
I use the regular, indigenous apps which already know my phone.

This is a price we pay for such wonderful integration of the world.

Fair enough- good point. But the hat sure is pretty lol I guess my question pertains to the ability of these apps to access through the permission structure content I haven't already granted them by virtue of being a Facebook user (for example that additional personal info stored in my google account that I'm not shared with facebook because I don't think they should get to own it!)

 

[AngryHatter]

They don't have any information you haven't provided.
Google won't give FB your credit card and vice versa.
They don't cross pollinate.

 

[MiscBec]

They don't have any information you haven't provided.
Google won't give FB your credit card and vice versa.
They don't cross pollinate.

So what does it mean then to give the FB app the ability to "act as an account authenticator" and to "manage accounts"- does this JUST pertain to FB accounts, because it certainly doesn't say so, which mankes me wonder what control it would have over other accounts on my phone. (and while we're talking about FB here, which can probably be trusted not to be interested in anything other than its own accounts, I know I've seen similar permission requests for many other apps, even those without their own "accounts" to create or manage).

{and again, I appreciate your replies on this- I'm just trying to understand how this all works, not to be a pain in the butt }

 

[chanchan05]

So what does it mean then to give the FB app the ability to "act as an account authenticator" and to "manage accounts"- does this JUST pertain to FB accounts, because it certainly doesn't say so, which mankes me wonder what control it would have over other accounts on my phone. (and while we're talking about FB here, which can probably be trusted not to be interested in anything other than its own accounts, I know I've seen similar permission requests for many other apps, even those without their own "accounts" to create or manage).

{and again, I appreciate your replies on this- I'm just trying to understand how this all works, not to be a pain in the butt }

It means that when other apps you need to login to (tweetdeck, springpad, etc), when you log in, you can choose login via facebook to authenticate your account.