If you have a Samsung, you may not be able to delete Facebook 📱

This news may alarm you, especially if you have a Samsung phone: if you want to delete the Facebook mobile app, you may not be able to. Don't worry, this is not the case for every user: we know that anyone with a Samsung Galaxy S8, for example, is likely to have more difficulty, because the Android phone has come with the Facebook app installed since its launch in 2017.

Imagine you use the world's most popular social network to stay in touch with friends, read the news or share cat photos but, suddenly, you no longer want to be part of that virtual world. You may only be able to disable the app, an option you find in the device settings, without being able to delete it for good. The question that has haunted many owners of these devices is: can Facebook still access information and location, among other things?

It is true that, in recent years, consumers have been paying closer attention to their rights, online and offline, and watching their privacy very carefully, especially after the news that came out about the private-data disclosure scandal originating on Mark Zuckerberg's platform.

Many people decided to delete their accounts as a form of protest, while others simply wanted to know if they had that option. Not everything went well, though, especially for many Android phone users who even questioned the reason for this permanent version of the app being pre-installed. Many of the complaints happened, precisely... on social media.

A Facebook spokesperson has already come out to guarantee that the disabled version of the app works as if it had been deleted, so it does not continue to collect any kind of data or send information back to headquarters. There is, however, very little information for the consumer about this process.

The California company in Menlo Park has also said that whether you can delete the app or not depends on the agreements made between device makers and Facebook itself, as well as on operating systems and telecoms companies around the world.

Although the world's largest social platform has never revealed the financial nature of this agreement, it has already guaranteed that it is only about giving the consumer "the best possible" telecoms experience from the moment the box is opened.

For many owners of these Samsung models, though, the experience was not, in fact, the best. The technology manufacturer from Seoul, South Korea, said that on selected models the Facebook app really does have the option to be disabled, and from that moment it stops working.

On the social network's side, it was not possible to get access to the list of partners with which similar agreements were made; apparently, permission varies by region and by the type of contract.

So there is no list available online, and consumers may not know if they have a device with this pre-installed app unless they contact customer support directly.

For years, several consumer-advocacy groups have been sceptical about these agreements, and they even warn of the possibility that users are being spied on through these apps. They also argue that companies such as Facebook should be required to make documents available proving they are not collecting personal data when the app is disabled.

Facebook is not the only name tied to these deals. Apps created or run by Google, such as YouTube, Google Play Music or Gmail, are some examples of apps that come pre-installed on some phones.

Even so, many users say they will change phones if the situation is not promptly clarified, or resolved.