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Facebook Bug Exposed 6 Million Users

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-a-handful dept.

jamaicaplain sends this quote from the NY Times: "Facebook has inadvertently exposed six million users' phone numbers and e-mail addresses to unauthorized viewers over the last year, the company said late Friday. Facebook blamed the data leaks, which began in 2012, on a technical flaw in its huge archive of contact information collected from its 1.1 billion users worldwide. As a result of the problem, Facebook users who downloaded contact data for their list of friends obtained additional information that they were not supposed to have. Facebook's security team was alerted to the problem last week and fixed it within 24 hours. But Facebook did not publicly acknowledge the flaw until Friday afternoon, when it published a message on its blog explaining the situation."

6 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. They have to fix it fast. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This highly confidential data is very valuable thing and the most important thing Facebook is selling to its "partners". Leaking this information for free without collecting revenue is highly detrimental to the company. They have since fixed the problem, it is all well and good. You now have to become a "partner" and pay the required fees to Facebook to get such confidential data.

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    1. Re:They have to fix it fast. by swillden · · Score: 4, Informative

      I feel funny defending Facebook, but unless they're blatantly violating their own published privacy policy, they don't sell personally-identifiable information to others. While it's possible they're intentionally violating their policy, I think that's unlikely.

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    2. Re:They have to fix it fast. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I feel funny defending Facebook, but unless they're blatantly violating their own published privacy policy, they don't sell personally-identifiable information to others. While it's possible they're intentionally violating their policy, I think that's unlikely.

      I feel funny defending the NSA, but unless they're blatantly violating their own published privacy policy, they don't spy on US citizens. While it's possible they're intentionally violating their policy, I think that's unlikely.

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      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  2. What's a facebook? by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't act smug and superior when I tell people I don't have a Facebook page.

    But I think I should start.

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  3. Re:Testing by ebno-10db · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Test cases? We're talking about Facebook - the company that often tests software by just going live with it. Some people call this rapid development, but I call it sloppy garbage.

  4. Re:Testing by ebno-10db · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The all knowing market also brought us the tulip bulb bubble, and that invisible hand is reaching for your wallet.