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Facebook says investigating data exposure of 267 million users
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Facebook on Thursday said it is
investigating a report that a database containing names and phone numbers of
more than 267 million users was exposed online.
The database was made available for download last week on an online hacker
forum that apparently belonged to a crime group, according to a blog post on
the website Comparitech.
“We are looking into this issue, but believe this is likely information
obtained before changes we made in the past few years to better protect
people’s information,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP.
Comparitech said that security researcher Bob Diachenko spotted the
database, which was openly accessible and contained Facebook users’ names,
user IDs and phone numbers.
The discovery was reported and the database was no longer available by
Thursday, according to Comparitech.
Revelation of the exposed data comes as the social network strives to
rebuild trust and alleviate concerns over protection of people’s information.
US regulators earlier this month said that British consultancy Cambridge
Analytica — at the center of a massive scandal involving Facebook data
hijacking — deceived the social network’s users about how it collected and
handled their personal information.
The Federal Trade Commission said its investigation launched in March 2018
concluded that the now-defunct political consulting firm “engaged in
deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of
Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting.”
The FTC said the British firm, which worked on Donald Trump’s 2016
presidential campaign, made “false and misleading” claims when it offered
Facebook users a “personality quiz” — stating it would not download names or
any personally identifiable information.
The case created a firestorm over data protection when it was disclosed
that Cambridge Analytica was able to create psychological profiles using data
from millions of Facebook users.
Facebook’s own investigation found that some data from 87 million users in
the United States and elsewhere had been compromised by the firm, and claimed
the practices violated the social network’s terms of service.
Facebook paid a record $5 billion penalty early this year in a settlement
with the regulator over mishandling users’ private data.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0912 hrs