Facebook Sync Contacts: goodness and the danger posed

Facebook Sync Contacts is contact in Facebook account which is the result of synchronization process from contacts in your smartphone, for example BlackBerry. See the picture below.

If you want to go there, you need to login your Facebook account and click this link address: http://www.facebook.com/friends/edit/?sk=phonebook.

Facebook Sync Contacts is a facility that lucrative but dangerous if your facebook account taken over by another party without your consent (hijacked). Advantageous because this will make it easier to find your friends on Facebook if you have registered mobile phone number on Facebook.

Previously I have wrote how my Facebook account was taken over easily (hijacked).

Can you imagine your Facebook account that contains important contact numbers and maybe bank accounts PIN are written in it hijacked? Oooohhhh no….. I just realized this yesterday. Then immediately figure out how to avoid it.

Look at the picture beside that show Option in Facebook for BlackBerry. Selected sections showing BlackBerry Contacts application. Maybe you can read additional information below the option that by activating this option then the contact on BlackBerry will periodically synchronized with contacts on Facebook.

It answer my curiosity.

Now, how do I avoid it all?

It can be avoided with:

1. Turn off feature Facebook Sync Contacts on your smartphone, to prevent the next synchronization process.
2. Delete contact data synchronization results in the previous from your Facebook account.

The first is easy to do. How to for the second?

1. Go to Contacts on your Facebook account by click the link above.
2. Look at the first picture above. Then click the link that I have been mark with red colour. You will arrive on the page Remove Imported Contacts (picture below).
3. Click Remove.
4. You just have to wait until all the contacts erased (last picture).

Note: After all, not all contacts will be erased. Contacts that deleted are generated from the process of synchronization with mobile phones. Contact data of other friends (Facebook friends) will still be there.

If you require synchronization function for purpose of making backup, you can consider to using GMail.