[kictanet] Samsung Users Can't Delete Facebook, making it crapware to users who don't need it

[Patrick A. M. Maina]

 Tip of the iceberg. Try deleting pre-installed Google apps... :-D
Some even act like malware e.g. a pre-installed "Photos" app (which I believe belongs to Google and which can't be removed) silently uploaded all my photos - violating privacy and eating bandwidth without my express consent, or knowledge, to Google cloud servers - I actually discovered this by accident and verified with another user... 
I hope the privacy bill covers "sync" (for both cloud and devices) - a useful but potentially insidious feature that is prone to abuse.
Rgds.
    On Thursday, January 10, 2019, 4:58:50 AM GMT+3, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:  
 
 
Facebook has inked an unknown number of agreements with Android smartphone makers, mobile carriers and OSes around the world to not only pre-load Facebook’s eponymous app on hardware but render the software undeleteable; a permanent feature of your device, whether you like how the company’s app can track your every move and digital action or not.

Bloomberg spoke to a U.S. owner of a Samsung Galaxy S8 who, after reading forum discussions about Samsung devices, found his own pre-loaded Facebook app could not be removed. It could only be “disabled,” with no explanation available to him as to what exactly that meant.

The Galaxy S8 retailed for $725+ when it went on sale in the U.S. two years ago.

A Facebook spokesperson told Bloomberg that a disabled permanent app doesn’t continue collecting data or sending information back to the company, but declined to specify exactly how many such pre-install deals Facebook has globally.

Samsung told the news organization it provides a pre-installed Facebook app on “selected models” with options to disable it, adding that once disabled, the app is no longer running.




https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/09/facebook-is-the-new-crapware/amp/
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