Norton is famous for privacy and security protection, including some work done on Android. Yesterday, they released a new version of their latest Android application that contains their new Mobile Insight technology, which analyzes different aspects of Android applications to see where major security breaches may be coming from.
One particularly surprising security leak was Facebook. Everyone’s always been pretty aware that Facebook isn’t exactly delicate with user data, but Norton found something even more alarming than a not-so-great privacy policy; actually, the Facebook application leaks phone numbers, regardless of whether or not you’ve put your phone number anywhere in the app or on your Facebook account. As soon as you start the application, your device phone number is sent to Facebook servers, with or without your permission. This even happens if you’ve just run the application and don’t actually have a Facebook account.
Norton says Facebook was made aware of the issue and is working to fix the vulnerability, which should be pushed out in their next app update. Facebook has also deleted those numbers from their servers, so fortunately it wasn’t a malicious security breach. Still, though, those privacy features in Cyanogenmod are looking better and better.
Come comment on this article: Norton discovers privacy leak in Facebook application
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