Facebook to keep collecting call data

Facebook will not drop a controversial feature that records users’ call and text activity made outside its app.

Following revelations of possible shadow profiles, there are new concerns Facebook could use users’ data to profile call recipients, regardless of whether they had a Facebook account.

A shadow profile contains data pulled from information voluntarily provided by existing users, which can be used to profile others with the same interests or contact lists. They could theoretically be used to profile someone before they had signed up to Facebook.

Facebook said it did not hold shadow profiles of non-users.

‘‘Some people also may upload their phone book when they’re using Facebook, but we don’t use that information to build profiles about people who aren’t on Facebook,’’ a spokeswoman said.

But Facebook did not address the question of whether cell data was held in a way that could be used to profile call recipients if they were to sign up.

The collection of call and text metadata was revealed by Wellington software developer Dylan McKay, who downloaded his own data.

Facebook justified collecting recipients’ names, as well as the time and duration of calls and texts made outside its app, by saying it was an opt-in feature to help users find and stay connected with friends and family. Critics say it is invasive and unneeded.

Despite a new global spotlight

‘‘We will never log people’s call and SMS history without permission.’’ Facebook spokeswoman

on privacy, a Facebook spokeswoman said the company intended to continue collecting the data, but would delete records more than a year old. The feature was only on Android phones, in the Messenger and Facebook Lite apps.

‘‘We’ve reviewed this feature to confirm that Facebook does not collect the content of messages,’’ the spokeswoman said. ‘‘We will never log people’s call and SMS history without permission.’’

NetSafe chief executive Martin Cocker said if Facebook combined the phone logs of multiple users, they could be used to create profiles of users receiving calls.

Many users now sign up to Facebook using a mobile contact number, making a clear link between the collected cellphone data and new user account.

If the information was used to create a profile on sign-up, that might be OK, Cocker said. But using it ahead of sign-ups to profile people was more questionable.

Users can disable call monitoring in their settings.

A spokesman from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Facebook and Android were not breaching privacy law, as long as Facebook was clear about what data it was collecting and its uses.