Facebook's New Android App Tests Security

Facebook’s new app for Android is testing user security. The app has had some user confusion with the Facebook app requesting permission to access Android features. Facebook posts for its user an explanation about the app security and permissions. Facebook Katana is the latest app version available at Google Play for Android.

The company addressed to its user community that the reason the Facebook app was requesting permission to access features on Android that the install of the Facebook app sends initial notification that the app is asking for the users permission to access information or use features from the Android device. Almost all apps need certain permissions to run on Android, and the company insisted use of permissions to run features in the app.

Android Security Challenges

Consumer adoption has made Android devices more prone as a target for security threats. Android’s open application model or Android open source has contributed to the increase of security risk for users. Organizations are faced with data protection challenges. Higher security measures are being implemented to avoid such risks.

To reduce security risk noticing challenges which may arise in reaching users and driving innovation is important. Organizations have to find out the best ways to minimize security risks while at the same time leverage their technologies to benefit the company. With the right security tools better privacy can be offered for Android. Tools should drive overall focus on the security outcome. Having more standardized tools that leverage both privacy and security risks advances best.

Facebook stated the following, “ We realize that some of these permissions sound scary, so we’d like to provide more info about how we use them, you'll find a list of some of the permissions we request for the Facebook app, as well as an example of how we use each one. “ “Keep in mind that this list doesn’t include all of the Android permissions we request or all of our uses of those permissions, if you've already installed the Facebook app, you can find a list of the permissions the app uses in your phone's Applications Manager, or by visiting the Play Store and clicking Installed.”