ZDNet: Facebook, Flickr, others accused of reading text messages

Summary: Reports surfacing this weekend claim that popular smartphone applications can access users’ text messages amongst other personal data, even when that phone is not being used.

Updates: see below.

Application developers and store operators are in for further rough times, as reports emerged this weekend that a number of popular smartphone applications, including Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and others, can access private text message data or other personal information.

The Sunday Times (paywall) reported that Android and iPhone users are vulnerable to such invasions of privacy, though it is unclear whether application developers actively access data, or whether it is a result of poor security permissions.

It is claimed that some applications can intercept phone calls, while others can allegedly remotely access a smartphone’s camera, or even pinpoint its location without the user’s knowledge.

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