[ad_1]
The dataset included 133 million records on Facebook users in the United States, 18 million on people in the UK and 50 million on users in Vietnam. The researcher, Sanyam Jain, found the databases on a server exposed unprotected by a password. He said TechCrunch he found phone numbers related to several celebrities.
"This dataset is old and seems to have information obtained before we made any changes last year to prevent people from finding other people using their phone numbers" , said a Facebook spokesman to Engadget. "The dataset was removed and we found no evidence that Facebook's accounts were compromised.The underlying problem was addressed as part of a message posted in the newsroom. April 4, 2018 by the chief technology officer of Facebook. "
The company told Engadget that much of the information in the databases is duplicated. As such, it indicates that the actual number of accounts involved is about half of that figure of 419 million. The company also noted that since the access changes announced last April, it was trying to reduce the risk of data recovery.
Yet while the information in these databases may be old, people tend to keep their numbers for a long time. The leak could expose them to spam calls and SIM card swap scams that could endanger their online accounts, not just Facebook. A Facebook ID, meanwhile, is a unique number associated with each account, and it is not difficult to find the user to whom it is linked.
The company has faced many privacy issues over the years, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal that led to a $ 5 billion settlement by the Federal Trade Commission. This year, several million other users of Facebook and Instagram have been exposed, but not by the company itself. Last fall, a data breach updated the confidential information of 29 million users.
Update of the 04/09/2019 17h30 ET: Added some more information on Facebook.
[ad_2]
Source link