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That's it ex stuck on Facebook may have had access to your messages after all.
On Monday, Facebook revealed that a bug had affected the privacy settings of 800,000 users. The bug allowed users who had been stuck on Facebook and Messenger to unlock – without those blocking them knowing it.
According to Facebook's statement on this, 83% of people affected by this bug had "only" blocked person temporarily unlocked. The other 17% of users had more than one person unlocked, thanks to the bug.
Unblocked users could not see content shared with the friends of those they had been blocked from, and the bug "did not reestablish connections of friends that had been cut off." However, these unblocked users were able to contact someone on Messenger who had blocked them, and types of public messages that were not tagged just for friends may have been made visible.
While the problem is now resolved – all unlocked users are blocked again – the bug was active for 8 days, impacting users between May 29th and June 5th.
Facebook clarified what happened on Twitter. According to the company, visible Facebook user data is stored in pairs called "associations". The bug removed some associations on Facebook and Messenger, resulting in the loss of blocking settings for affected users.
of these associations on Facebook and Messenger, which caused the loss of blocks
– Facebook (@facebook) July 2, 2018
When Mashable reached out to have more information On the bug, a Facebook representative informed us that the bug was random and global, affecting users everywhere.
In his original statement, Facebook said why someone might want to block another user. From the desire to "take a break from someone who publishes content that he finds annoying" to more serious reasons such as bullying and intimidation, the blocking function is very important to do. Facebook a safe place for its users.
With his statement, it is clear that Facebook understands the possible ramifications of this bug. However, after many recent mistakes, it seems that the company still has actions to take regarding the privacy of its users.
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