Facebook refutes allegations of gathering text, calls data

Amid the controversy engulfing Facebook over an alleged data breach, the social media giant has dismissed claims of having collected users' text and call data without their consent.

The company in a press note argued that user data is collected only from those users who have given permission for the same, adding that the feature could be disabled at any point in time.

"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, or here for Facebook Lite users, and all previously shared call and text history shared via that app is deleted. While we receive certain permissions from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only," the company posted.

Facebook further explained that a user, at any point, who no longer wishes to upload information, can easily turn the feature off. He/she may also turn off continuous call and text history logging while keeping contact uploading enabled.

"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. 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," the company clarified.

For the unversed, Cambridge Analytica, the political data firm with ties to United States President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, is under fire for allegedly gaining access to private information of more than 50 million Facebook users, and influencing elections by using this stolen data.

Earlier last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had admitted to making mistakes over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and said the social media giant needed to 'step up'.

Zuckerberg also issued an apology for the data breach in the form a full-page advertisement in seven newspapers in the United Kingdom and three in the United States.