Meta Caught Spying on Galaxy Users’ Web Browsing Through Facebook App

 

shocking new report reveals that Facebook has been secretly tracking the web browsing activity of Android users—including those using Samsung Galaxy phones—since September 2024. The tracking, which bypassed common privacy safeguards like Incognito Mode and cookie deletion, only stopped when the behavior was exposed by a group of international researchers.

📱 What Happened?

The research team discovered that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, used a loophole in Android to collect users’ web data even while they browsed privately. If a user was logged into Facebook or Instagram, the apps could link browsing activity directly to their account, allowing Meta to serve highly targeted ads.

The breach centered around the use of Meta Pixel, a widely embedded tracking tool used on over 5.8 million websites to gather marketing data.

🕵️‍♂️ How Meta Did It

Researchers say Meta exploited an Android feature that allows apps to run a local server on the device. Here’s how it worked:

1. Meta Pixel scripts embedded on websites collected metadata, cookies, and browsing commands.

2. These scripts silently connected to Facebook or Instagram apps on the user’s phone using a localhost socket.

3. Since users were logged in, Meta could deanonymize the data, linking web activity directly to their profiles.

This means that even private browsing sessions were being tracked and linked to Facebook accounts.

🚨 Privacy at Risk

One of the lead researchers, Gunes Acar, criticized Meta for keeping users and website owners in the dark:

“Meta has never told this, neither to users nor to owners of websites with such a tracking program.”

The discovery raised major concerns about user privacy and the potential for abuse. Malicious apps could exploit similar techniques to harvest private data without user consent.

⚠️ Meta Reacts… After Being Exposed

Meta shut down the tracking only after the research team made their findings public. The company did not proactively inform users or release a statement acknowledging the breach, further fueling criticism over its lack of transparency.

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🧠 Takeaway

This incident serves as a serious reminder: even trusted apps can compromise your privacy—sometimes in ways even Incognito Mode can’t protect you from. Android users, especially those with Samsung Galaxy devices, are advised to:

• Regularly audit app permissions

• Use privacy-focused browsers

• Consider logging out of Meta apps when not in use

As digital surveillance tactics evolve, staying informed is your best defense.