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Facebook confirmed that they were actually using phone numbers that users provided for security purposes to also target them with ads.
Specifically, a forwarded phone number for two-factor authentication (2FA) – a security technique that adds a second layer of authentication to secure accounts.
Facebook's confession follows a story Gizmodo yesterday published an article on the research work done by academics from two American universities, who conducted a study in which they stated they could use personal information not provided by individuals. to target them nevertheless with advertisements.
Although this has been – if not clear, at least obvious – for several years, Facebook has been using the contact details of people who have never personally provided their information for advertising targeting purposes (collection of personal data by other means, such as contact books, etc.). other Facebook users), revealing the numbers provided to Facebook by bona fide users, for the purposes of 2FA, are also, in his view, that fair gaming for ads was not as explicit as before .
A few months ago, Facebook said that users who received Facebook notifications with the number provided for 2FA were bugs. "The last thing we want is that people avoid useful security features because they are afraid of receiving unrelated notifications," said Alex Stamos, then CSO on Facebook.
Apparently, we do not think about mentioning the rather relevant extra detail that he is nevertheless happy to reuse the same security feature for targeting ads.
Because $$$ s, probably.
We asked Facebook to confirm that this was what it was doing – to make it doubly secure. Because srsly wtaf. And he sent us a statement confirming that he is reusing the numbers given to him by people wishing to secure their accounts to target them with marketing.
Here's the statement, attributed to a Facebook spokesperson: "We use the information provided by people to deliver a more personalized Facebook experience, including ads. We clearly know how we use the information we collect, including the contact information that users download or add to their own accounts. You can manage and delete the contact information you have downloaded at any time.
A spokesperson also told us that users can refuse this reassignment of their security figures based on ads by not using the 2FA phone number. (Although the company only added the option of making 2MA based on non-mobile phones in May, everyone was out of the question.)
On the "shadow profiles" front, ie Facebook which keeps the profiles of the non-users according to the data it has been able to extract from the users and other data sources, the company has not been transparent.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg an alleged confusion when asked about the practice of US lawmakers earlier this year – claiming that it only collected data on non-users for "security purposes."
Well, it seems that Facebook is also using (valid) security concerns of actual users to extend its ability to target individuals with advertisements – using the numbers provided for 2FA to also perform ad targeting.
Sure to say that the criticism of the company was fast and clear.
Soon, Facebook will also be using behind-the-scenes technology to target WhatsApp user ads – in addition to providing a robust encrypted security wrapper around their actual messages.
Stamos – now ex-CSO of Facebook – has also defended his actions on this front.
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