throwaway78981

This isn't true. The phonebook we had had only Name, Phone number and very broad location. Also those days, phone number was just that - a phone number. Nowadays it's a unique identifier for lots and lots of things including government stuff. Some government stuff even uses it for authentication/authorization.

Also I guess user ID means it gives access to their fb profile page I guess? From there one can scrape pics etc (public ones).

Some might laugh this off as 'oh it's just scraping'. But I remember reading some comments in HN that there are apps that can scan faces and pull personal info including where they live, work etc. So each leak uncovers a person little by little.

This vindicates the stance taken by Signal to not even collect metadata.

Edit: I mean surreptitiously scan the face of a stranger you see in public and the app will tell you about them. Don't know names of the apps.

So, are they making millions?