By now, we’ve all seen this ominous Facebook message: “OMG this is for real everyone!!!! Warning to ALL …ALL THE PHONE NUMBERS IN YOUR PHONE are now on Facebook! No joke – go to the top right of the screen, click on Account, then click on Edit Friends, go left on the screen and click Contacts. All phone numbers are published!”

It’s true. Follow the instructions and you’ll be shocked to see the phone number of your family doctor, therapist, pediatrician (proctologist, gynecologist, what-ever-ologist) – every phone number you’ve ever called – or called you. It’s there.

So. What does this mean to Facebookers? That depends on how much privacy you want. The phone numbers – though listed – are only available for you to see. Your “friends” can’t see them, nor can your co-workers, the government or your health insurer.

Yet. Facebook is a private company. It – they – essentially have access to everything we post. And, now with smart phones and the “did I sync it” confusion (plus SMS feed and Facebook Messenger) … well, FB has access to every person and number in your phone — and your life..

Facebook essentially has a database of everything we do, say, post … every photo, video or thought we utter in type. Now they have the phone numbers of everyone we’ve called.

But do we need to worry?

Ah, therein lies the big question. Before Google, there was this thing called the Yellow Pages. Within this big book were paid ads — and people who didn’t pay – in the White Pages. Essentially, businesses had to pay. Regular folks, the White Paper people? We had to pay NOT to be included. It was a win-win for the Yellow Pages.

Today, it’s the same world, with different parameters. Then, a public utility had our information whether we signed up or not. Now, it’s a private entity that knows all — but one we volunteer to be part of.

The game changer is back then, “they” only had our phone numbers and addresses. Now, “they” have pictures of our kids, parents, friends and neighbors.

“They” know where we went to college, worked and vacationed. “They” know our favorite movies, hobbies, and what we did last weekend or just minutes ago.

Should we care that FB has all our phone numbers as well? If they already know our favorite color, movie and where we were last night … does it really matter if they know everyone we’ve ever called?

For me, it does. No matter how “locked down” my account settings, I get more freaked out by how much “they” know – without me even knowing they know. OK. The government knows all. But do we want a private company – who has only profit motives in mind – to know everything about us?

Facebook is brilliant. I see friends, relatives and co-workers I’d never found on my own. I see pictures of cousins I long since forgotten, and photos of friends’ kids I’ve never met. FB is the ultimate connector – and collector.

It’s kind of ironic. People fear the government knowing “too much.” Facebook? No one seems to care that they know all.