Phew, for a minute there I thought I was about be signed up for an IQ Quiz or find out how many friends have a crush on me.

Wow, this is still going around?

I saw this a few weeks ago, and thought (hoped) it had died.
Seriously, the Facebook phonebook has been around for years.

It’s sad how gullible and knee-jerk most people seem to be…

Not a huge deal IMO. Everybody’s phone number is already out there. Between Google, http://www.dirtyphonebook.com, the yellow pages, and other resources, I’d bet you could find out almost anyody’s phone number. To me, this isn’t really a big deal. There are much worse things to criticize Facebook’s security over.

If I type your ‘basic’ information into the whitepages.com (your name and current or home town) what do you think that will give me?

The thing is that most people don’t realize that their friends can get their phone number from FB. I did not initially display it on my info… so I wouldn’t have thought that my friends could see it. That’s what gets people upset. I can’t see my phone number on my info tab. So why should I have to go to the extra trouble to make sure my friends can’t see it? While it may not be a “security threat,” it is definitely NOT a straightforward way to do things. You have to go to the trouble of going through a lot of steps to make sure people can’t see something that YOU can’t even see on your own info tab.

There is such negative news about ID theft and stalking and sex offenders, that the world seems to be hypersensitive and reactive. Yet, while it might get – uhm – annoying for some, it still gives people a chance to think about how things are being done, becoming proactive. With all that being said, I’m glad this did come through my friends’ statuses because I didn’t know THIS particular site exisited. Awareness is a powerful thing. Thanks.

Heaven forbid that my friends could actually “talk” to me.

Look I honestly feel that it is not a good idea to have this feature. Look lets be real here. Till I seen this come across my home page I did not even know about the feature to “hide” your personal information for phone numbers. I knew about the other stuff but NOT that.

How many people add people just for the apps?? MANY of them! And I for one can say I fall in that group. Now do I know then,no,do I want them to know my phone number? NO I do not.

I deleted FB from my iPhone because I did not like that fact that it took all my contacts and added them online FB. I want them removed but I can not. I can say that ever since I posted what was passed onto me many many people did not know about it and they have changed thier settings as well.

I want to know how to get every person that I know telephone numbers off my facebook. They do not belong there.

This explanation is fine, except it doesn’t explain how Facebook imported all the phone numbers from my computer’s address book. Most of the people whose phone number show in my “friends” list are not connected to me in Facebook. Most are definitely not on my friends list. Can’t I just delete this feature?

And another thing….

“you have two options: remove it from your profile or use Facebook’s privacy settings.”

I want to know how to remove it completely from Facebook. you fail to demostrate how to do that. You only show how to change your settings which I have done. But with all the hackers that are getting through your “security” it is still possible for someone to see the numbers. So how do you remove your personal number and how do you remove the numbers that are there due to the fact that your site took them from my phone??

I think there is a way around the world with other people, is first of cut unterhalten.Freiheit all been together and say gleichheitihren opinions, this first of cut in iran, do not talk about man, have diskotion, demostärin has to iran regim more book now than 100,000 people killed or hanged, and more people are in prison 126 000 ale! whole world we are all union present, all, all media, Zeitschrieften, newspapers, radio, TV switched on, and say what we in iran are not many Wiesse .!

ich denke hier ist auch ein weg etwa mit andre welt mit Menschen,unterhalten.Freiheit ist erste schnit alle wurden zusammen und gleichheitihren meinungen sagen,diese erste schnit im iran ,mann darf nicht reden ,diskotion haben,demostärin, bis jetz regim iran hat mehr als 100,000 menschen getotet oder aufgehängt,und mehr ale 126,000 menschen sind im gefängnis!wir sollen ganze welt ,alle union, alle präse,alle media,Zeitschrieften, Zeitungen ,radio,TV Einschalten,und sagen was bei uns im iran giebt viele wiessen nicht.!

I think this person is a scam “Yalç?n Memi?” What can I do to delete it if he does not appear in my list of friends?

This may not be new, but the change in implementation is. You can look at my info page and see my phone # but it’s an IMAGE. It can’t be copied and pasted, you have to read it and type it. That means bots can’t harvest it. But when you go to the Phonebook screen, all those numbers are text and can be harvested. So while Facebook wants to help users stay in touch with their friends, they’ve made it easier for spammers to harvest.

Also, if you Google names you usually won’t find cell numbers. Lots of folks on FB enter those.

BTW, I have my email and phone number hidden on FB.

This does not address the issue that (supposedly – I haven’t verified) when you use facebook on a mobile phone, your phone number is added to your account with pretty lax security settings – “friends only” is pretty lax for most people.

I dont think its that so much as when synching with your mobile it publishes your whole phonebook and this is dangerous in terms of venerable people and children. I have tried deleting my phonebook on facebook and it wont. I am now considering restarting my account to get rid of it as i can not find any contact info for the developers etc to ask for it to be done. Had I of know it would publish my whole phonebook I would not have done it.

Bottom Line: My phone number is none of FB’s business! And, publishing it in any form is not their right!

Thing is, FB hoovered my contacts out of my iPod and into FB before I realized that’s what it was going to do. I don’t WANT these phone numbers in FB’s database for the minions of Zuckerberger to mine! I want the ability to remove them. I’ve asked the FB peeps nicely, but no response from them. If anyone knows how to get the FB stormtroopers to please let us have control of the “phonebook” they stole from our personal data, let me know so I can get it fixed.

ThNaks!

Don’t want your cell phone number shared? Don’t add it anywhere. Otherwise everyones numbers are accessible through the phone book unless you’ve specifically requested it to be unlisted.

Folks, if you can’t see your phone number on your profile, then Facebook doesn’t know what your phone number is. You can’t just assume they know everything. They only know what information you give them.

If you remove the phone number from your profile, that removes facebook’s knowledge of your phone number and removes it from the phonebooks of all of your friends. Problem solved.

I really think Facebook Phonebook is a super useful feature. When my friends change their phone numbers, instead of having to tell each and every person that their number has changed, they just list it on Facebook and it shows up right in the phonebook.

I’m not worried about the phone number showing up as text and not an image, bots can’t take these phone numbers since they can never see these pages. Only you can see these pages when you’re logged in to Facebook. Since its text its easier for me to copy into Skype or click on it from my phone’s browser.

If you’re really worried about your FRIENDS knowing your phone number, then don’t give it to Facebook in the first place! I think the easiest way to give your number is when you add the Facebook app to your phone, and even then they ask if you want to do that and you can just say No.

So, in other words, if this is “a viral message”, I assume it refers to a computer virus.Being relatively new here to the world of facebook (like only since last October), I took it seriously and posted it to my wall. Did I infect my own computer or anyone else’s????????

Here was me thinking the Samsung H1 was supposed to copy information INCLUDING phone numbers, email addresses(when available.)
I guess everyone should go back to using Nokia 3210′s and 3220′s.

HAHAHA

Remember phone books? Everyone’s number for the most part was listed there and you had no input unless you ‘unlisted’ it for a fee. Public Record.

This is ILLEGAL

WOW!!!! Im sorry but I dont need everyone in my friends list knowing my phone number! This is against the law! What if I had an ex husband who beat the shit outta me and did not want him to find me…..BAM just go to face book add me under a false name and WHAMO he has my number Im sorry but I DONT THINK SO, That is so wrong

They can not post your phone number with out proper permission

This setting was never pointed out anywhere before. So it is important that everybody informs everybody about those issues. For facebook it’s simple: Information means “Control” and all this pulling information from anywhere is all about gaining control. Facebook (and a lot of other sites) should be set on ALL HIDE to begin with, and then let the people choose what they would like to expose. To do it the other way around is not OK. And to say “well it is all there in the settings” buried deep down in the clicking list, simply sucks. Has nobody ever thought about starting a platform with all those issues removed – they would be really successful.

How do I disable the Facebook synchronization feature on my iPhone? I DO NOT want Facebook importing the all of the “Contacts” from my iPhone to its phonebook. I have spent hours searching trying to find out how to disable the Facebook synchronization feature on my iPhone but to no avail.

OK here’s the thing – so many people are randomly adding people they DON’T KNOW as FRIENDS, and they’re worried about privacy? Simple thing really – don’t add people you don’t know and you won’t have anything to whine about. How stupid does it sound to say “I don’t want my friends knowing my phone number!”? C’mon, really?

My personal phone numbers, house and cell phone are not listed anywhere on my profile, and my cell phone is not used for facebook, so how did those numbers get on my friends phonebook

I do believe that our phonebook is our property and you did not ask permission to export it to your website. Since you have done this and none of us can undo it I expect that it is in your capacity to create a “fix” to allow what we want to delete, from our hi-jacked phonebooks. You, the founder of FB, who just turned 26 are dealing with a grandmother who is closer to 66 and pissed as a bee, over this. I think young man, you need to have a grandmotherly “come to Jesus ” chat and let me and a lot of others, set you straight on ETHICS!

Christine Lay i love u 1314

There are a lot of people, including me, who didn’t realize their phone numbers were being posted. I have an unlisted number in my land-line phone book. I think we should be given the same option with the phone book on Face Book.
People should be aware of this option and given a choice.
There are enough users that are concerned and don’t WANT THEIR PHONE NUMBERS to be available ( see comments) that it should be changed.

What I’m reading is a lot of people who will blindly add people as “Friends”, when they’re not in fact, your actual “Friends”.

To those people, I say, “you reap what you sow”.

Facebook got its start specifically for providing contact details, for friends and classmates, to each other. (Someone should look up what a facebook *is*, since that’s what the web site took its name from)

I’m with Facebook on this one. That functionality has been part of the site since 8 o’clock Day One, and (for some of us at least), it’s the reason we signed up for the site in the first place, not to play some stupid mafia-wars or farmville game.

Get a life people. If they’re not your “friends” why are you telling Facebook that they are. And if they are your friends, why don’t you trust them with your phone number? I can’t think of one friend I have who I wouldn’t give my phone number to.

Facebook is a social network. We use it as a safe place to network with others, but we should ultimately have control over what info these friends have access to. Just because I go to a party and talk to people, doesn’t mean they should automatically have my phone number.

It seems to me, Facebook is deliberately omitting this info and that’s what people are upset about. People had no idea their personal contact information was being given out. You have to go through all these steps in the privacy settings to make sure you are sharing only what you want to share. That is not what I signed up for. I don’t want some random person I met at a networking event calling me in the middle of the night. I have the right to protect myself from that. We deserve to be informed.

My problem is that my PHONE synched MY PERSONAL NUMBERS to Facebook’s servers and it listed them in the Phonebook. If Facebook gets hacked or my account, they will have my mom, grandmother, sister’s numbers to call and solicit them. What a great and easy way to sell someone’s phone numbers. I didn’t care if it showed me my Facebook friends and those that published their number, that wasn’t my issue. My issue was Facebook now having my non-Facebook friends on their site. I immediately turned off syncing on the iPhone application. So everyone needs to see THAT side of it.

The problem is that the feature should be OFF by default.
You should have to manually turn it ON.. not have to go in and change everything. I’m thankful to the VIRAL message that made me aware of the phonebook. Not everyone uses mobile services.
Facebook is a social networking site. Online friends are NOT the same as real life friends. I have met many great people on this site.. but that doesn’t mean I want them to have access to my phone number.

Actually, I passed on this message to my friends and I’m neither gullible nor an idiot. I have spent a LOT of time customising my Privacy settings to control who can see what on my profile. Upon seeing the warning I checked my settings just to be sure, and my phone number was available for all to see. If I somehow missed the field for my phone number’s privacy, surely it should have been automatically set to hidden?!!!

Derek Balling: I add people to my Facebook account for applications. I am very aware of what I am allowing unknown people access to, and as such I make sure that these people can only view the parts of my profile which give away no personal details (by creating specific Limited Profile lists). I’m not going to assert that I am infallible – perhaps I did miss the phone number privacy field when spending a good 20 minutes on my privacy settings – but the point is that my phone number was published to my entire friends list without my knowledge or approval.

I understand that my personal information is all over the Internet, but I don’t like that FB puts it out there for family and friends and anyone else. Sure I can change my privacy settings to exclude those I don’t want to see certain things, but wouldn’t it make for a better relationship if *I* had to change settings to *allow* my phone number to be available to those I want to see it? Privacy should be optional, FB seems to make it open to too many people making me choose my privacy level. I think it should be the other way around – FB starting with zero viewing and I make the changes to allow who sees it and who doesn’t. Just my opinion, but it would make a better selling point for FB.

The real problem is facebook pulling phone numbers via api’s from pc’s and mobile’s without the user attention. Yes they probably legally allowed to do this due to their terms and conditions which we have accepted, but for a big company like facebook, this unethical and no better than stealing. Also personal details such as phone numbers and email addresses should be opt in and not opt out. As far as don’t add people you dunno, well facebook keeps suggesting and suggesting so you can’t blame them for sending a request.

to those who said o fb should not have my number why did you your number there for your friend . okay set it as a friend but to those who don’t want some friend to have uh why you have them as a friend you can go to setting and specify who can or can’t see your information….people don’t think before posting ? LOL………………………………………..

Yeah, well honestly I did not know this feature was on their. I do not post my phone number, but I think it is a security risk for children under 18. Yes their parents should be monitoring their activity and profile. But they don’t always do that, and if a minor friends someone thinking they are a child when they are not, they instantly have access to their telephone number, like the child that was abducted and killed this way in the UK. Scary stuff. Facebook should not allow anyone under 18 even enter in their telephone number, block it.

My issue with FB’s Phonebook is not that my contact info is published; this is something I can control by not having it listed, or control who sees it. What I do take issue with is the fact that my mobile or computer contacts were uploaded to FB without my knowledge. Then when they give you the option to delete your mobile contacts it doesn’t work! What kills me is the following statement that pops up as it’s appearing to delete the contacts. “We are deleting all email and phone contacts you previously uploaded to Facebook. This may take a few minutes.” The part that cracks me up is “…contacts you previously uploaded to Facebook.” making it sound like this was something I did consciously…lol. Extremely unethical Facebook!

I have an old analog cell phone. I don’t have IM or texting on my cell phone. So therefore I cannot delete this type of
operation from my phone. So you tell me, how did my friends phone numbers get on FB’s Phonebook list? I have gone to my security settings, Phonebook was “never’ checked for use in my settings. So how am I supposed to protect my friends phone numbers from appearing in Phonebook??

I didn’t think it was a security risk, the message was informational to me. I didn’t want all of my friends to have my phone # so I changed the settings. I reposted the message so my friends could change their settings if they wanted to. I simply hadn’t realized my phone # was visible to all of my friends so I’m glad that message called my attention to it.

facebook continues to show that they have no connection at all with real life and no concern at all for the privacy and, even more important, safety of their users.

these people are truly scum.

I agree, it is not MY contact information I take issue with. It is the upload of my entire iPhone contact list without my knowledge. While I can set it to private, we all know that this kind of information can be hacked or made public in some other way all too easily.

The fix suggested does not work.

I have tried deleting my phone book off facebook and it will not let me do so….does anyone have a reason for this? or way to get it off?

This may still be an issue because I play a few games on Facebook and some of the people that I have friended for the games are minors. I have spotted at least 4 that have their numbers published in Phonebook. While this may be something that adults can reasonably control, I am not sure that children, some of whom are under 10 years of age, should be placed in such a situation. Many of them may not be aware that they have published their phone numbers, and their parents may object as well.

The issue here is that not all information weighs the same. What college I went to is of much less importace to me than is my cel phone number. Finding that one’s private telephone number is available to all as a default condition of Facebook membership is startling, to say the least.

May I ask why the default condition is not “Only Me?” If Facebook charged for its service, should I expect that my credit card number would be displayed by default _unless_
1. I know it’s on display – by no means an intuitive leap many rational people would make about a company entrusted with such information
2. I know how to click through layers of drop-down lists to find the “Only Me” option.

Clearly, the question about different types – and weights – of information is where one draws the line. Myself, I draw it well short of my personal telephone number.

I think it safe to say that the fact that many of us are startled to discover this is proof enough that this is a problem.

Sadly, this seems to be a pattern with Facebook … they push the subscribership until the peasants revolt, and only then back off.

nije uredu koristi mrtve,i koristiti neke kao glupe kletve na facebook-u,sto se meni juce desilo,da neka osoba meni preti,ako ne posaljem na dvadeset adresi da ceme celog zivota pratiti,ako neverujem da je ona mrtva da proverim.
Hocu da se to zabrani.

IT’S NOT THE LAND LINE NUMBERS THAT ARE IN THE WHITE PAGES THAT I’M CONCERNED ABOUT. IT’S THE UNLISTED NUMBERS AND CELL PHONE NUMBERS!! I’M UPSET THAT IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO HIDE SOMETHING AS PERSONAL AS THESE NUMBERS!!!

Despite the “glowing love” about this feature by some people. I don’t want my friends’ numbers (including those who aren’t even on Facebook) stored there. Strangely enough, I can’t disable this feature and Facebook haven’t replied to any of my emails about getting this removed.

In my opinion, people are too busy posting and chatting on FB that they do not spend enough time customizing their privacy setting.

I need to have the phonebook that Facebook has uploaded from my phone remived!! I have already deleted FB Mobile from my phone and WILL be deleting FB all together by tomorrow if I continue to find my privacy breached!!! I do not wish to do this, but have tried to follow your step by step directions to remove this private info three times now with no success!! This is highly confidential info that I DO NOT want on the Internet whether you “tell” me only I can see it or not!!!

what about the face that facebook STEALS all the numbers from my PRIVATE contacts list on my mobile whenever I sync? there is no notification that facebook is importing ALL my contacts, whether they are on facebook or not, and then posting them in my phonebook. then the published instructions for removing imported contacts doesn’t work. sorry, but i’d get fired if my vp knew his personal contact details got posted to facebook.

The problem is that many users of fb are not on so often that they know the ins and outs of security. My sister didn’t know about this ( I just found out yesterday and I’m on everyday). She assumed because her other privacy setting was at “only friends” that her phone number would be protected, too. But a strange man got her number and was leaving sexual and disturbing calls on her phone suggesting he knew where she lived and that she had a family. She had to get the police and a private investigator involved. They know, now, who he is and where he lives, but it cost them a lot of fear and money.
It is irresponsible for fb to publish the numbers without the consent of the user. How hard would it have been to send out a message asking users if they would like to have this published or to opt out?

@ Kathy,
Like you I have an analog phone and my friend’s number all appeared, too.
I am giving serious consideration to wiping my information and stop using fb altogether.

And does anyone else notice how impossible it is to contact fb directly? For all we know, they don’t even check this site. It gives us a place to sound off, but who the heck is checking and who is applying what they learn from it to policies? I want a name and a face. I want to look at that person or at least hear their voice on the phone as they tell me that “phone book is not a security threat” even though it allowed a man to threaten my sister. She had to call my other sister and tell her if she hadn’t contacted her in 5 minutes to call 911. My little sister had to run outof her home with her 9 month old baby in fear of her life. I am so angry! If that isn’t a threat, what is??

Intelligent concerns all.
3 things:

1.It should go viral on a regular basis.
To remind parents to check their kids settings. It was because of this notifier that I noticed that my teen kids ph #’s were available to all of their fb friends. Thats fine for their personal friends, but each have hundreds of app friends only. Huge security risk.

2. If any parents out there are not tech savvy, it will never get noticed … thats a big responsibility for fb to assume.

3. If the kids use their cell phones for fb, their # is put in that phonebook automatically, its not as if they typed it into their profile, thats also a risk.

FACEBOOK: If the user at sign up states an age less than 18, these settings should default to strict guidlines, or simply disallow inclusion in phonebook type info releases.

Old or not, I’m very very disturbed that it gave me the phone number of an ex girlfriend I had split up with a long long time ago, and for whom we have no facebook contact. But blammo, there she is.

I suppose that means she’s got mine too.

Disturbing.

Can you help me in below information when add new friend in my facebook time. please advise me how to unblock it this info..

“Block! You are engaging in behavior that may be considered annoying or abusive by other users.
You have been blocked from adding friends because you repeatedly misused this feature. This block will last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. When you are allowed to reuse this feature, please proceed with caution. Further misuse may result in your account being permanently disabled. For further information, please visit our FAQ page..”

Now, trying to take what’s good about this not-so-user-friendly feature… now my major issue is the process to select friends with which you want to share your phone number… Can we have the regular frame that shows friends by their picture and name, and be able to select in a few clicks, instead of having to type those fb friends names one by one?

You must make this information disponible in all language of the world where Facebook is used and send a link to some user by e-mail. It’s a so omportant informatio to all users!
Please!

Great explaination of how to protect your phone number through privacy settings, but perhaps an explaination of how to use lists to accomplish the same thing would have been useful here, too. Rather than selecting each individual to allow or disallow, using lists makes the process much easier. Simply set up your lists, set your privacy settings, and then any time you add a new friend, just select what list they should belong to. Automatically, they are allowed to view only what you want them to see without having to go back into your privacy settings and setting them all over again.

YOU MUST MAKE THIS INFORM DISPONIBLE IN ALL LANGUAGE OF THIS WORLD

It is

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

sarender for misuse facebook.please connect facebook.

I agree with most of the previous comments. It is extremely unethical to not be upfront with the fact that even people who aren’t on FB and who are in your iPhone phonebook will have their information uploaded. Even if the “fix” did work to delete your contacts who is to say that FB wouldn’t keep their information and use it if necessary. I’m pretty sure in their “terms and conditions” they state they can use any information that “you give them” in anyway they need to. Your information also gets sold if the company gets sold! They should have been upfront about how that feature actually works but then again… nobody would have actually used it. Something drastic needs to happen in order for FB to change this or purge that information.