Technology

Facebook’s privacy problems: a roundup

Facebook disclosed on Friday that a bug could possibly have affected as many as 6.8 million users, allowing app developers to check out photos that users had uploaded but never posted C however was hardly the first mea culpa the social media giant has gotten to deliver out regarding data and security of late.

Facebook admits bug allowed apps to observe hidden photos

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Here’s a quick check out Facebook’s recent difficulty with user privacy:

  • A whistleblower came forward in March to disclose that Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested the personal Facebook data of fifty million people order to profile and target users for political advertisements. After 10 days of silence, Mark Zuckerberg apologised for his company’s “mistakes”.

  • A bug in June caused a glitch that publicly published the posts of 14 million users which were supposed to have been private. Erin Egan, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, apologised for the “mistake” and said the corporation had since fixed the glitch.

  • Hackers was able to access and steal sensitive information in up to 50 % of your 30m accounts affected inside a September security breach. The company initially considered that 50 million users were affected inside an attack that gave the hackers power over accounts.

  • Mark Zuckerberg faced accusations in a lawsuit filed with the software firm Six4Three in May he “weaponised” the chance to access user data. The business has rejected these claims and possesses repeatedly made motions to have the case dismissed.

  • It was this same lawsuit that concluded in a cache of internal communications appearing following UK parliament obtained the documents in the extraordinary relocate to hold Facebook and Zuckerberg accountable. The documents were under seal with a California court, and Facebook’s attorneys and also the judge in the event have both criticised Six4Three’s legal team for earning the confidential papers.

  • These documents said that Facebook staff did discuss selling having access to user data to advertisers in 2012 before opting to restrict such access eighteen months later.

  • The documents also concluded in Facebook finally agreeing to a hearing prior to the House of Commons, which happened in November. Facebook sent an agent, the first sort Liberal Democrat MP Richard Allan. During hours of questioning, it turned out revealed that an engineer had warned the organization in 2014 that users apparently headquartered in Russia were collecting a lot of info every single day. A firm spokesperson later commented that your matter was properly investigated and deemed not much of a data breach.

  • In March, users realised the company had collected sms messages and call call records through smartphone apps without their consent. Facebook immediately issued a “fact check” claiming “people have got to expressly comply with make use of this feature” and “uploading these statements have been opt-in only”. Nonetheless the “fact check” didn’t acknowledge that some previous notification screens failed to warn users that decision and text history can be uploaded.

  • This has since triggered a class-action lawsuit alleging that, for implementing this, Facebook “presents several wrongs, with a consumer bait-and-switch, an invasion of privacy, wrongful monitoring of minors and potential attacks on privileged communications”. Facebook has said it requires users’ permission to enable the feature which gives usage of call logs.

  • Facebook stated it stopped giving third-party app developers admission to user data in 2015. But the Wall Street Journal reported in June the fact that social network continued to discuss users’ data with third-party developers even with the date that executives claimed the practice would stop. Facebook officials confirmed this report.

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