Some Samsung phone owners can't delete Facebook app, report says

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Dropping Facebook may be tougher than it appears for Samsung smartphone owners.

Bloomberg reported Samsung phone users are unable to delete the Facebook app. Instead, they are only given an option to disable the app on their smartphone.

Among users cited in the was Nick Winke, a photographer who attempted and failed to delete Facebook's app from his Galaxy S8 smartphone.

"It just absolutely baffles me that if I wanted to completely get rid of Facebook that it essentially would still be on my phone, which brings up more questions," Winke told Bloomberg.

Samsung and Facebook could not be immediately reached for comment. In a statement to Bloomberg, Facebook said the disabled version acts as if it's been deleted and doesn't continue to collect data.

Facebook has endured scrutiny over how it handles user data since the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was accused of improperly accessing Facebook accounts.

Last month, the New York Times reported Facebook offered tech giants such as Netflix and Amazon broader access to such as friends' list and private messages without users' permission. Facebook said any features introduced in partnership with companies required users' permission.

Both Spotify and Netflix denied the ability to access Facebook users' private messages.

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Citation: Some Samsung phone owners can't delete Facebook app, report says (2019, January 16) retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2019-01-samsung-owners-delete-facebook-app.html
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