Skip to main content

Facebook disables new home address sharing feature

facebook-developer-home-address-mobile-number-given-away
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After only three days, Facebook has temporarily disabled a new feature that would enable applications to ask users for access to their home addresses and mobile phone numbers. In a post on the social site’s Developer Blog, employee Douglass Purdy explains that the feature will return, but will first be retooled to give users greater control over their contact information.

“Over the weekend, we got some useful feedback that we could make people more clearly aware of when they are granting access to this data,” said Purdy. “We agree, and we are making changes to help ensure you only share this information when you intend to do so. We’ll be working to launch these updates as soon as possible, and will be temporarily disabling this feature until those changes are ready. We look forward to re-enabling this improved feature in the next few weeks.”

Recommended Videos

Yesterday, we explained the details and problems with the new feature. Basically, Facebook gave apps permission to ask you if they will “allow” personal data to be shared like home address and mobile number. However, it was rigged so that these permissions could be lumped in with a blanket “Allow” or “Don’t Allow” screen when users first install any app. So to use the app, you have to give it access to your address and phone number even though it’s highly unlikely any app needs that information to run properly. More than likely, most apps would only use such information for ad and sales purposes.

It’s good to see Facebook responding to criticisms in a timely manner. It shows that the site is learning from its mistakes and capable of defending its users, given enough public outrage. However, it would be nice if it didn’t take a bunch of security experts, blogs, and Websites decrying a new feature to get Facebook to care. It should be thinking about privacy issues before it releases features, not after.

Jeffrey Van Camp
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…
Millions may be eligible for $6,000 in data breach settlement
A person using a laptop with a set of code seen on the display.

Millions of Americans may be eligible for up to $6,000 from a major data breach settlement —but they must act fast, as the deadline is this Monday, Newsweek reports.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm, agreed to a $21 million settlement after hackers stole sensitive data in a data breach between June 3 and September 26, 2020. Even more alarming, the firm notified affected Americans almost a year after the data breach. Those affected had no idea their Social Security numbers, personal identifying information, personal health information, usernames, passwords, medical information, biometric information, and credit card information were taken.

Read more
European Union issues guidance on how to not violate the AI Act’s ‘prohibited use’ section
European Union

Companies worldwide now officially required to comply with the European Union's expansive AI Act, which seeks to mitigate many of the potential harms posed by the new technology. The EU Commission on Tuesday issued additional guidance on how firms can ensure their generative models measure up to the Union's requirements and remain clear of the Act's "unacceptable risk" category for AI use cases, which are now banned within the economic territory.

The AI Act was voted into law in March, 2024, however, the first compliance deadline came and passed just a few days ago on February 2, 2025.

Read more
Microsoft is cracking down on unsupported Windows 11 installs
A Dell laptop with Windows 10 sitting on a desk.

A support document showing users how to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs was deleted sometime in the past two months. Its disappearance, noticed by Neowin, echoes Microsoft's recent "year of the Windows 11 PC refresh" rhetoric, encouraging (or forcing) users to buy new PCs that meet Windows 11 hardware requirements.

When Windows 11 launched in 2021, Microsoft announced that it was adding TPM 2.0 as a hardware requirement -- a move that was met with plenty of resistance. To soften the blow, Microsoft also published a support document detailing how users could edit their registry key values to bypass the TPM 2.0 check.

Read more