Facebook To Users: iOS 8 Update Hasn’t Changed How We Use Your Location Data

Facebook and privacy have had a dicey relationship over the years; the issues and worries have been well documented.

So with today’s Apple iOS 8 update, the social network is trying to inoculate itself against possible backlash regarding changes to location settings in its iPhone app. It’s not us, Facebook’s product management director Adam Mosseri wrote in a blog post, it’s Apple:

Nothing has changed about how Facebook gets location information from devices, but Apple has updated its Location Services setting:

• With iOS 8, Apple has changed its Location Services setting. Before, there were only two choices for the kind of permission you could give an app: On or Off. Now, there are three choices: Always, While Using the App, or Never.
• When you update to iOS 8, if you previously used Facebook with Location Services set to “On,” you’ll notice that the location setting now starts out at “Always” (the new Apple setting option).

Facebook isn’t getting any new location information when you upgrade to iOS 8:

• You control your location information. Nothing is changing and Facebook will continue to respect the choices you’ve made about location.
• As always, Facebook doesn’t get location information from your device unless you enable Location Services.
• Facebook does not get location information from your device in the background (that is, while you’re not using the app) unless you give us permission by turning on a feature that requires this, like Nearby Friends. Also, if you choose to turn on a feature like this, you’ll always be able to use your Facebook settings to control whether Facebook gets your location information in the background.

Furthermore, the post said, Facebook-owned apps such as Instagram and Messenger, which don’t rely on getting location in the background, will default to the “While Using the App” setting in Location Services in their iOS 8 versions.

Facebook also announced that it would be updating its apps in the coming weeks to take advantage of the new operating system and larger-screened iPhones: “We’re creating assets for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+ that take advantage of the new screen resolutions, making the experience bigger and clearer. We’re continuing to work to make sure all the features of our app work with the new OS.”