The Facebook application for Android leaks the device phone number, says Norton. The discovery was made when Norton was working on Norton Mobile Security, an antivirus for mobile devices.

The first time users launch the Facebook application, even before logging in, your phone number will be sent over the Internet to Facebook servers. You do not need to provide your phone number, log in, initiate a specific action, or even need a Facebook account for this to happen, says Norton.

Norton says when it reached out to Facebook, the social network stated they did not use or process the phone numbers and have deleted them from their servers. Facebook is currently investigating the issue and will likely provide a fix in their next Facebook for Android release.

According to Google Play, hundreds of millions of devices have installed the Facebook application and a significant portion of those devices are likely affected.

[Image courtesy: Facebook]