There’s been lots of media speculation (and US government speculation) about Huawei spying or being a national security risk, but it’s mostly just speculation. Neither the US (nor other governments) have offered up much if any evidence to back the claims.
When it comes to Facebook, though, we all know from media reports that the company has been caught out making your personal data available to people it shouldn’t (Hello, Cambridge Analytica), and generally representing pretty poor privacy practices.
In a boon to embattled phone manufacturer Huawei, Facebook has kicked an own goal, telling Huawei that it can no longer provide Facebook as a pre-installed app on Huawei devices. This is great news for those who value their privacy, and see Facebook as a huge threat to that privacy.
Why has Facebook done this?
Well, to comply with the US-imposed ban on US companies supplying goods or services to Huawei, of course. This is one move we can get behind, though.
Pre-installed apps are terrible, and if you’re one of the growing many who don’t like Facebook’s practices, or want their apps pre-installed on your new phone, then you’ll probably welcome this development.
The move is unlikely to have a big impact on Huawei, as Facebook can hardly be considered a key inclusion that their phones cannot survive without, unlike Google Services.
