It increasingly looks like history repeating itself and the moral of the story falling in deaf ears… again!
Just what the world needed right now, another Facebook data leak, this time on Amazon servers. Researchers at UpGuard, a cybersecurity firm, have discovered heaps of unprotected Facebook user data – millions of them. The data discovered contains sensitive information such as names, passwords, comments, interest and likes.
It’s not only that Facebook has been sharing data with third-parties, most of the times without its users knowing or even authorizing. It’s also the fact that these third parties have not been keeping a minimum apparatus of security to ensure that no sensitive information would be exposed.
Yes, we know what we signed up for. However, behind the let’s-hold-hands-and-sing-kumbaya mantra of its CEO, it’s increasingly likely that Facebook has also been feeding very sensitive information straight to potentially bad actors. All that without any official or rigorus oversight whatsoever. We simply cannot be sure where all that data is being stored or how it’s being stored.
Wired reports that, according to UpGuard, one of the exposed databases belonged to a Mexican company called Cultura Colectiva, which used Amazon cloud services to store some 146 gigabytes of data, including 540 million different records. The other database belongs to an app called At the Pool, which contained plaintext user passwords for 22,000 users.
In the past couple of years, and especially after the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out, Facebook has shut down access to hundreds of apps that would exploit its users data. However, the damage has already been done and it looks like Facebook is merely reacting to exposés, rather than proactively auditing its third party affiliations. Will this be the last hole security analysts poke in Facebook’s quest for new-found privacy?
You might also like
More from Facebook
Facebook And Instagram Dropping Embedded Content Support On WordPress Sites
Facebook and Instagram embedded content will soon break on WordPress websites unless owners generate an app ID with a developer …
3 Courses To Help You Create Compelling Facebook Ad Visuals
Here are three free Facebook Blueprint courses that will help you create more impactful ad visuals that get your audience's …
Facebook Bans Holocaust Denial Content
Facebook has announced an update to its hate speech policy, banning Holocaust denial content on its platform.
Facebook Removes 28-Day Attribution Model From Ads
Late last month, Facebook announced it's removing the 28-day attribution window in Facebook Ads. The change is effective as of …
Facebook Bans QAnon Across Its Platforms
Facebook is banning QAnon-related Pages, Groups, and Instagram accounts, even if they don't contain violent content.
Facebook Brings Netflix, Zoom, And More Features To Portal
Facebook has announced it's bringing Netflix, Zoom, new titles to its Story Time library, AR stories, and more to its …
Facebook NPE Forecast App Is Now Open To Everyone In The US And Canada
After launching its Forecast app in June, Facebook NPE is now making the app available to all users in the …
Facebook Expands Brand Collabs Manager To Public Groups
Facebook is starting to expand Brand Collabs Manager (BCM) to include Public Groups in a bid to help communities collaborate …
Facebook Announces New Community Management Certification
Facebook has created a new Facebook Community Manager Certification Program available to users through Facebook Blueprint.
