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My second half has updated her smartphone to Android version 4.0.4. All great, except a stupid icons change and the balloons added to the SMS application (I did not like it as well). The biggest surprise, however, was something else: On accounts list configured on the phone appeared Facebook account that was used on our notebook at home. Horror and consternation came over me, how the hell it came into the phone and why.

Anybody know how to explain that to me how permanent surveillance worked in this case? Facebook has never been used on this phone although the as the default application is accessible.

Because I was kicked off with that question from general stackoverflow - more technically: Who can explain mi technical ways of achieving such information by the Facebook application on Android while Facebook was never used previously? How such data could be gathered that caused Facebook account to appear together with Google accounts. I would like to know what developer can do to achieve such effect of invigilation by Facebook?

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You use many unproven assumptions in your questions. For example it could be possible that a third party app has configured the Facebook account. Anyway that is the first time I've heard from such a behaviour. Let's see what answers come up. It would help if you tell us the smartphone type and ROM version (stock?). – Flow♦ Oct 16 '12 at 20:33
I will reveal the model of the phone, if it may help to answer. The fact is that account was never linked with any Google account in any way (only logged in the same browser on the same notebook in the same WiFi network). Device was brand new, and does not have Facebook account on the list before upgrade. – Manveru Oct 17 '12 at 19:37

closed as too localized by Al Everett, t0mm13b, roxan, Bryan Denny♦ Feb 22 at 17:40

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1 Answer

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Well, there's many possible causes for this. Some that spring to mind immediately are:

  1. Someone set up the Facebook app on the phone sometime in the past and then forget they'd done so; after the system update, it either became obvious or the app was "helpfully" reactivated after being deactivated (the most likely, IMO).

  2. Someone linked the Facebook & Gmail accounts, and the system update "helpfully" populated the FB app on the phone as well.

  3. A third party service or another app is aware of both the FB account and the GMail account, and has "helpfully" associate FB with the GMail account (have you double checked the FB profile to make sure that the GMail address isn't listed?)

  4. The cell phone number has been added into the Facebook profile, linking the phone with the FB account that way as opposed to linking it via the GMail account.

+++ updated with two more possibilities +++

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ad. 1. Impossible. Brand new phone, two Google accounts configured for contacts and mail synchronization. Browser on the phone not used at all. Then after two months upgrade to 4.0.4 where the stock Facebook app was present and voilà - the Facebook account appeared on the list. ad. 2. No one do that, because e-mail address for that Facebook account was on minor polish e-mail platform. Is it possible that Facebook somehow track the IP address of those who logged into their services? – Manveru Oct 17 '12 at 19:41
I'm sure FB does track IPs of people logged in, but I'm equally sure that they wouldn't use that to associate a FB profile with a Google account on a device. Added a couple more possibilities to the list, too, if you want to check those. – Logos Oct 17 '12 at 23:31

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