Facebook quells rumors regarding Phonebook feature

Facebook quashed this week claims that some users’ phone contacts have become visible to all users on the social networking juggernaut. In a blog post, Facebook said the Contacts list, formerly called Phonebook, had been there for a long time, and only the user can see the contact numbers. “Rumors claiming that your phone contacts are visible to everyone on Facebook are false. Our Contacts list, formerly called Phonebook, has existed for a long time. The phone numbers listed there were either added by your friends themselves and made visible to you, or you have previously synced your phone contacts with Facebook. Just like on your phone, only you can see these numbers," it said. An article on tech site Mashable said Facebook believes the rumors may be a misinterpretation of the “Contacts" feature. It said a user who downloads Facebook’s mobile app will have his or her phone’s address book synced with his or her profile, from which one can access all of the numbers in the phone from his or her Facebook profile. But it said the feature also made some users uneasy since the “Contacts" feature uses the user’s mobile phone contacts to match friends’ Facebook profiles with their numbers. “If a friend hasn’t included her number on her Facebook profile, it looks as though Facebook has just given you her number when in reality it came from your own phone," it said. Also, Mashable reported the feature also uses the numbers in a phone’s contact list to search for potential friends on Facebook. It said that if the feature finds somebody who has posted a number on Facebook that matches one in one’s phone book, it will suggest that one add them as a friend. Earlier, a viral Facebook post warned users that Facebook also posts the numbers it finds on one’s phone to other users’ Contacts tabs. — TJD, GMA News