436
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by grilled_chesse_eater@lemmy.world to c/privacyguides@lemmy.one

Meta/Facebook preinstalls an app called Meta Services (previously Facebook services) on a very large percentage of android devices (I've never used one without it) and while they claim it helps updates and synchronisation between different meta apps, it is very suspicious. Why preinstall it on devices of people who will potentialy never use a single meta app?

Go to your app list/app management and show system apps and find anything with the words "meta" or "Facebook" then turn off network access for those apps (if you can) and disable them. (eg. Meta app manager, Meta app installer).

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/meta-services-an-android-app-or-not/

https://fixyourandroid.com/about/facebook-app-manager/

https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS20FE/comments/ttmx4t/meta_services/

Edit: Looking around I have found several people complaining that this app is using their ram for 10 hours a day even though they don't use anything Meta. That's even more suspicious.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] CrypticCoffee@lemm.ee 42 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Now on GrapheneOS on the Pixel 6a. One of the best decisions I made :)

[-] MajesticFlame@lemmy.one 9 points 1 year ago
[-] CCatMan@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

What NFC payment options were available on there?

[-] bug@lemmy.one 14 points 1 year ago

Tape your bank card to the back of your phone

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

NFC payments do have the benefit of not providing your card information to the vendor. It only provides a token to the vendor.

[-] bug@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago

Ah, that's a good point. Tape someone else's card to the back of your phone!

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Good idea.

Unrelated, can I borrow your credit card?

[-] bug@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

Sorry, I superglued it to my phone

[-] CrypticCoffee@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

To use my bank card separately, because proving less data to my phone (previously on Android) was a sensible plan.

this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
436 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy Guides

16263 readers
40 users here now

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more...


Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We've tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!


This community is the "official" Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other "Privacy Guides" communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.


Moderation Rules:

  1. We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
  2. This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
  3. No soliciting engagement: Don't ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
  4. Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
  5. Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
  6. Don't repost topics which have already been covered here.
  7. News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
  8. Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
  9. No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don't abuse our community's willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
  10. No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
  11. Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
  12. General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS