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Facebook's latest security hole, in which the company reported that 50 million user accounts had been accessed by unknown attackers, put an end to a tumultuous year for privacy.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal, which put CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the center of the Congress debates in April, received the most attention this year. The data analysis company employed by Donald Trump's presidential campaign reportedly had access to about 87 million Facebook accounts.
But Facebook is not the only company to have to re-examine its security measures recently. Here is a summary of the most important privacy breaches of last year:
Equifax
L & # 39; impact: 147.9 million Americans
What happened: The stolen information included client names, social security numbers, birth dates, and addresses. Hackers also stole credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 people and challenged documents containing personal identification information for approximately 182,000 people.
When it happened: May to July 2017
When it was reported: September 2017
Why? Unknown.
Equifax offered free credits after hacking. Congress has since passed a law prohibiting credit bureaus from charging freezes.
YAHOO
L & # 39; impact: 3 billion accounts
What happened: The stolen information included names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and security questions and answers. The company believes that information relating to bank accounts and payment cards have not been affected.
When it happened: August 2013
When it was reported: First in December 2016 with 1 billion users affected, then in October 2017 with 3 billion users affected.
Why? Security experts said it appeared to be the work of a foreign government that was fishing for information about targeted individuals.
At the time of the revelation, Yahoo had already been moved by the revelation of a separate attack in late 2014 that had affected at least 500 million users. The two hacking attempts took place during the tenure of former CEO Marissa Mayer, who resigned in January 2017 following the company's sale to Verizon.
UBER
L & # 39; impact: 50 million runners and 7 million drivers
What happened: The compromised information included names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers, as well as some 600,000 US driver license numbers.
When it happened: October 2016
When it was reported: November 2017
Why? Unknown, but the two attackers sent an email to Uber to ask for money once they discovered the data treasure.
Bloomberg reported that Uber 's former president, Travis Kalanick, had learned the attack a month later, but had paid the hackers to delete the data and keep the breach silent for more than a year. Kalanick was ousted in September and the company was sued for negligence for hours after revealing the violation.
L & # 39; impact: 87 million Facebook accounts
What happened: The Cambridge Analytica Data Analysis Company has acquired personal information from Facebook friends from anyone who has used an application called "This Is Your Digital Life". Facebook said that this data included public profile information, similar pages, the birthday and the current city. Some users have allowed the app to access their news feeds, calendar, and messages.
When it happened: 2015-2018
When it was reported: March 2018
Why? The goal was to create psychogeographic profiles of users to determine what type of ads would steer them toward a political end. Political organizations, like the campaigns of President Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz, used this data to influence public opinion in elections.
The scandal prompted a congressional hearing in April, during which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was questioned about the company's privacy standards.
This month, Facebook acknowledged that "malicious actors" were using the platform's own search tools to collect data on most of its 2.2 billion users.
Last year, some 20 retailers and food chains also announced real and potential data piracy, including Best Buy, Macy's, Under Armor, Panera Bread and Whole Foods.
Twitter @ kayla_dwyer17
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