Privacy of Facebook users bared

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September 6, 2019

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Privacy of Facebook users bared

Source: AFP | 00:19 UTC+8 September 6, 2019 |

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Phone numbers linked to more than 400 million Facebook accounts were listed online in the latest privacy lapse for the social media giant.

An exposed server stored 419 million records on users across several databases, including 133 million US accounts, over 50 million in Vietnam and 18 million in Britain, said technology news site TechCrunch.

The databases listed Facebook user IDs — unique digits attached to each account — the profiles’ phone numbers, as well as the gender listed by some accounts and their geographical locations. The server was not password protected, meaning anyone could access the databases, and remained online until late Wednesday when TechCrunch contacted the site’s host.

Facebook confirmed parts of the report but downplayed the extent of the exposure, saying that the number of accounts so far confirmed was around half of the reported 419 million. It added the data was also old.

Following the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company disabled a feature that allowed users to search the platform by phone numbers.

The exposure of a user’s phone number leaves them vulnerable to spam calls, SIM-swapping, as recently happened to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, with hackers able to force-reset the passwords of the compromised accounts.

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Privacy of Facebook users bared

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