Facebook Blames Users For SMS And Call Data Collection, Stocks Plunge Following FTC Investigation

When it was recently reported that Facebook had been collecting SMS and Call data from its users without asking for permission, there was another big commotion with regards to the company’s inability to respect user privacy. However, instead of being contrite, the social network chose a terse response that essentially blamed users for this debacle. Then again, its stocks are plummeting following an FTC investigation announcement, so it’s got to be under a lot of stress right now.

In response to the recent discovery of its SMS and call data collecting practices, Facebook wrote a blog post that only made users angrier. The social network basically told the affected users that they were told what would happen if they signed in.

“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,” the post reads.

As Forbes notes, this was not the best response that Facebook could have made. Following the Cambridge Analytica issue, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg tried to mollify users with an apology tour. For this incident, it seems the company just doesn’t care anymore.

This is unfortunate since its stocks have been plummeting quite a bit recently and it did so again after it was announced that the Federal Trade Commission is finally investigating Facebook, NBCNews reports. At this point, recovery for the company is going to be tough.