Back in 2011, before I owned a smartphone or had a continuous 3G/2G internet pack on my Airtel phone, I unfortunately subscribed to Facebook SMS notifications. It was useful for a while to get updates even when I wasn’t connected online. But over the years, a lot of things have changed.
I have a smartphone now, I have the Facebook App and I have a regular internet pack. But the problem is, I still have the SMS notifications for Facebook. It’s super crazy to get 3 different kinds of notifications on your smartphone, to hear your laptop flashing and beeping alive, but actually only reply on the iPad you’re using. The different devices lighting up, I can tolerate. But never the repeated notifications on my phone. I get updates from the Facebook App, countless SMS messages, and annoying service messages that NEVER go away until I endlessly click on Cancel. And the worst is yet to come, I receive random delayed SMS updates too. Such an annoyance.
I tried everything. I changed my password on Facebook, no go. I called up customer care, they said it’s a Facebook app doing this (which is really stupid since the name of the service has “AT” prefixed to it), which was complete rubbish since I never put my number up on Facebook. I even went to the extent of deactivating. Even that didn’t help!! I kept getting notifications from group messages that I was a part of.
It really makes me wonder if my data is actually safe out there. I even tried changing the password for Gods sake. I have no idea the kind of backend these guys have built, but it is taking a toll on me.
The service on Airtel that pushes me updates is called AT-UOSNET. Now, this is NOT a fail proof method. It’s only working for 24 hours, after which I start getting these annoying notifications again. Talking to Airtel was of no help. And there’s no option to log out either with the USSD service.
What I did was to login again by providing the wrong credentials. Once you do that, you’ll get an SMS prompting you to login again. If you don’t do that, the system automatically logs you back in with your previous session. HORRIBLE.
In an age where privacy is getting so hard to get a hold off, we have public services which do not allow you to opt out. This has been getting super irritating for a few months now. I really hope Airtel fixes this.
So here’s the How-To.
1. Enter the USSD service
Dial 32522# on your mobile device. You’ll be prompted with this screen.
2. Login
Once you click on OK, the next screen will ask your login credentials. It doesn’t really matter if you enter 4 (4 was the fake username I gave the last time) or 2, the system is completely twisted. If you enter your password here, even if it’s the wrong one, you’ll go through the entire process twice. If you enter 2, you’ll go through the same process thrice. It doesn’t really make a difference.
3. Enter crap. Shitloads of crap.
Just enter crap. Have fun!
4. Login Successfully FAILED
Most people are happy with a successful login. Not in this case. This was probably the happiest part of my 24 hours freedom.
5. Repeat everything once the system resets itself.
I really hope Airtel addresses this buggy issue and doesn’t blame it on Facebook. It’s one of the most annoying services ever. It’s named AT-UOSNET. How much more clearer can the day get?