Thanks Ebele for your quick response. We really need transparency so that some of these hearsay can be minimized. They are unsettling. I welcome your suggestion for a follow-up in-person meeting.
In the meantime, I am attending Zuckerburg’s hearing at the Capital Hill today. I hope that he will be transparent too about these data privacy issues.
________________________________
From: kictanet <[email protected]> on behalf of Ali Hussein via kictanet <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2018 8:32 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Ali Hussein
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The case for and against #deletefacebook
Ebele
You continue to exceed our expectations. With the kind of punches Facebook is taking right now one would expect Facebookers to be a very scare commodity! 🙂
I think your offer of an in-person meeting to answer all and any questions is commendable. I personally won’t miss it for the world! 🙂
GG, over to you.
As for the media, there are many of them here on the list. I think its fair to get both sides of the story before printing?
Regards
Ali Hussein
Principal
AHK & Associates
Tel: +254 713 601113
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
Chiromo Road, Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
On Tue, Apr 10, 2018 at 1:18 PM, Ebele Okobi via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
It really is unfortunate that Business Daily has printed an article filled with so many factually incorrect statements, and I am surprised that they have declined to reach out to me or any of my colleagues when we are so very easy to find.
We do not require or ask access point vendors to modify firmware to support ‘black box’ monitoring of consumers. The normal tech in WiFi routers does not support zero-rated services, so Express WiFi tech was developed to support free access and data pack accounting.
I think it might be helpful to have an in-person conversation about all of this-another ask me anything, this month? I’ll work with Grace to schedule, if it’s of interest.
Ebele Okobi | Public Policy Director, Africa
m. +44 (0) 771 156 1315
10 Brock Street | London | NW1 3FG
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
On Apr 10, 2018, at 9:29 AM, Lawrence Njogu <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Ebele,
Can you explain clearly what’s going on here? mobile.nation.co.ke/business/Facebook-deepens-consumer-data-mining-in-Kenya-/1950106-4379966-gsmf4x/index.html
________________________________
From: kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Ebele Okobi via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2018 5:05:13 PM
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Cc: Ebele Okobi
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The case for and against #deletefacebook
So now that you know how our business works, are you still struggling to believe that data is not sold? We do not sell data, we sell advertising. And we have not been accused of selling data in this case. In this case, an academic used data that Facebook users directly gave him access to, and passed it on to Cambridge Analytica, against our rules. We did not sell anyone anything, the data was passed from the users to the app developer/academic by the user granting permission. That said-we changed the ability of developers to have that kind of access by 2015, and as you can see, we have designed and implemented a whole host of privacy controls since then.
In terms of believing whether your data is secure-given the number of Facebook users, and the amount of data we hold, and looking at the multiple global issues related to data-we, in truth, have first in class mechanisms for protecting user data, and we consistently learn and iterate from our mistakes. That said-as Mark said, we recognize that trust is built by actions, and once lost it must be built back up. Only you can decide what makes sense for you when you use (or decide not to use) Facebook or any of the thousands of websites, platforms, apps, services with which you undoubtedly interact every day.
On Mar 28, 2018, at 9:43 PM, Tracy Kadesa via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
@Kivuva yes, your answer does explain well!
@Ebele “Which part are you struggling to believe? That it is securely stored or that it is not sold? “
Answer: Both
Regards
Tracy Kadesa,
LL.B ,University of Nairobi.
Dip KSL
tracykadesa.wordpress.com
legalwalk.wordpress.com
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 10:24 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Tracy, I’m not holding brief for FB, but I understand your question.
The main business model for FB is advertisement. If you have ever advertised on the platform, you would understand the need to build profiles. So for example, if you are selling ladies handbags, and diapers, you would tell FB to show the bags to [ladies], in [Kenya], aged between [21 to 50]. If you cannot deliver to Turkana, you can say, [living in Nairobi, or Mombasa]. For the diapers, you would tell FB to show the advertisement to [ladies] between [22 and 40] living in suburban areas. This is the same for Google too.
In my FB profile, I never see these types of adverts because FB already has a profile about me, but the ladies within my household see these adverts.
Since you are probably billed per view, or per click, it is more value for the advertiser to TARGET the advertisement to the right audience, otherwise you will loose your advertising capital showing irrelevant advertisement to those in Turkana.
I hope this helps.
On Mar 28, 2018 8:03 PM, “Tracy Kadesa” <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Dear Ebele
With what’s going on right now, I am struggling to believe this statement “Your information is securely stored and we do not sell this information to third parties. You are always in control of the information you share with Facebook.” And why would fb collect all this info anyway if it wasn’t planning to make use of it! what is the rationale?
Regards
Tracy Kadesa,
LL.B ,University of Nairobi.
Dip KSL
tracykadesa.wordpress.com
legalwalk.wordpress.com
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 6:46 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
As Ali has put it before, it’s really refreshing seeing that we can get first level support, and feedback from Facebook. This really is the advantage of having an ecosystem of engagement which KICTANET provides. It’s refreshing bigly 🙂
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 6:06 PM Ebele Okobi via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Yes-those have been in the works for months, to be launched this week. The news has understandably overshadowed these announcements. That said-stay tuned for more details.
On Mar 28, 2018, at 3:59 PM, Ngigi Waithaka <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Just seen this as well…
Rgds
On Wed, 28 Mar 2018, 12:31 Ngigi Waithaka, <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Ebele,
If that’s the case, then I guess what they do is get a ‘screenshot’ of your photo and maybe *overlay* it on your newsfeed / timeline. The *impression* it gives you is that the photo is already uploaded…
Thanks…
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 12:18 PM, Ebele Okobi <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Clarification-your photos are not auto-uploaded to Facebook. The app has access to your photos and essentially shows you your own photo folder and asks if you want to upload. Your pictures do not get uploaded to Facebook until you upload them yourself.
I do think it’s a good piece of feedback for our product teams to know that a) this feature is confusing to you, and b) that showing users their photos and asking if they want to upload can be off-putting/not a good experience.
Best,
Ebele
On Mar 28, 2018, at 10:11 AM, Ngigi Waithaka <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Ebele,
Thanks for your update, I will check on the contacts settings as you have indicated.
I still think though some of the choices we make are not very *clearly* spelt out when we make them. For instance, I can understand the need to sync my contacts, but *not* my call & sms history! And this is especially so for those of use (most of us?) who use our phones for both personal & official business.
My recommendation, have at least three settings clearly indicating what you would use them for, if at all!
1. Sync contacts
2. Sync Call records (***)
3. Sync SMS & Messages (***)
As regards the photos this is what happen(s) / happened. Normally I would not give FB access to my photos.However, at some point I needed to upload a certain specific photo on to some FB markets that I participate in.
Shortly as I was still in the market and as I was scrolling though my newsfeed I started seeing a number of family photos that I had taken earlier, already uploaded but kind of greyed out, with FB asking me whether I wanted to share them.
That is very disconcerting!
Again, if a user gives access to his photo library for a *single* photo, that should not mean *all* my photos are auto-uploaded to FB, then FB prompts me to share them…
My recommendation would be to have at least two settings:
1. Upload a single photo
2. Auto- Upload *ALL* my photos
And, I don’t consider myself a *pro* FB user, it may very well be that indeed this is already covered so thanks for being our ‘customer-care’, appreciate 🙂
Regards
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 11:39 AM, Ebele Okobi <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hello!
Answers below-for your first question, it’s VERY important to clarify that Facebook does not “pick up” your contacts. You have to expressly agree to upload your contacts. For example, I have never agreed to this, so my contacts have never been uploaded. If you change your mind about the permission you have given, or if you accidentally gave permission, please see below for how to opt back out. Note that this feature is “opt-in”, so express agreement is required for it to be happening.
That is the same for the photographs, so can you please clarify your question? Are you saying that you granted permission for specific photos to be posted on your page, and now you want to delete them? Facebook does not automatically upload any photographs to your page.
1. Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people using Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android. This helps you find and stay connected with the people you care about, and provides you with a better experience across Facebook. People have to expressly agree to use this feature. If, at any time, they no longer wish to use this feature they can turn it off in settings
From: Ngigi Waithaka <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 5:37 PM
To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Cc: Ebele Okobi <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The case for and against #deletefacebook
Ebele,
Good to see FB represented here.
Got two questions:
1. Supposing FB has picked up my contacts and SMS and I would like to delete any prior data that has been uploaded, how would I go about that?
2. I also noticed that when I allow FB contacts to my PhotoGallery on Android for purposes of being able to select pictures to upload, by default, it then would upload *all* new pictures taken and ask me whether I’d like to share them on my timeline.
Is there a way to also delete any such content that FB has picked from my phone and auto-uploaded?
Rgds
On Tue, 27 Mar 2018, 19:30 Ebele Okobi via kictanet, <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
This is useful context, below. Please do let me know if there are additional questions or concerns. I do appreciate how significant an issue this is, and am happy to answer questions and relay concerns internally.
newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/fact-check-your-call-and-sms-history/
March 25, 2018
Fact Check: Your Call and SMS History
You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people’s call and SMS (text) history without their permission.
This is not the case.
Opt-in features in Facebook Lite and Messenger
Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people using Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android. This helps you find and stay connected with the people you care about, and provides you with a better experience across Facebook. People have to expressly agree to use this feature. If, at any time, they no longer wish to use this feature they can turn it off in settings
We introduced this feature for Android users a couple of years ago. Contact importers are fairly common among social apps and services as a way to more easily find the people you want to connect with. This was first introduced in Messenger in 2015, and later offered as an option in Facebook Lite, a lightweight version of Facebook for Android.
How it works
When you sign up for Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android, or log into Messenger on an Android device, you are given the option to continuously upload your contacts as well as your call and text history. For Messenger, you can either turn it on, choose ‘learn more’ or ‘not now’. On Facebook Lite, the options are to turn it on or ‘skip’. If you chose to turn this feature on, we will begin to continuously log this information, which can be downloaded at any time using the Download Your Information tool
If, at any point, you no longer wish to continuously upload this information, you can easily turn this feature off in your settings
We never sell this data, and this feature does not collect the content of your text messages or calls
When this feature is enabled, uploading your contacts also allows us to use information like when a call or text was made or received. This feature does not collect the content of your calls or text messages. Your information is securely stored and we do not sell this information to third parties. You are always in control of the information you share with Facebook.
On Mar 27, 2018, at 3:29 PM, WANGARI KABIRU via kictanet <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Facebook harvested phone call and text data from Android users
Facebook harvested phone call and text data from Android users
Brandon A. Weber
Have an Android phone or device? You might want to read this.
BIGTHINK might have thoughts similar to your said friend.
Facebook scraped call, text message data for years from Android phones [Updated]
Facebook scraped call, text message data for years from Android phones […
Maybe check your data archive to see if Facebook’s algorithms know who you called.
Factual or otherwise? Ars Technica makes reference to an FB rejoiner.
It should not be lost that even the most basic loyalty card is for decision making to serve you the customer better – data by the issuer.
Be blessed.
Regards/Wangari
