Facebook Faces Criminal Probe of Data Deals: Report
A grand jury in New York has subpoenaed information from at least two major smartphone makers about such arrangements with Facebook, according to the Times. Regulators, investigators and elected officials around the world have already been digging into the data sharing practices of Facebook which has more than two billion users. The social network’s handling…
Facebook Taps User Data to Defend Workers From Threat
CNBC reported that it interviewed more than a dozen former Facebook security employees, some of whom questioned the ethics of what was portrayed as an unclearly defined practice at the leading social network. Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison told AFP that the company’s physical security team exists to keep workers safe and that strict processes are…
Report: Facebook’s Privacy Lapses May Result in Record Fine
The FTC is considering hitting Facebook with a penalty that would top its previous record fine of $22.5 million , which it dealt to Google in 2012 for bypassing the privacy controls in Apple’s Safari browser, according to The Washington Post. The story published Friday cited three unidentified people familiar with the discussions. In an…
Why it’s Time to Switch from Facebook Login to a Password Manager
Social media sites are increasingly the focus of our digital lives. Not only do we share, interact and post on platforms like Facebook —we also use these sites to quickly log into our favorite apps and websites. But what happens when these social media gatekeepers are hacked? Awhile back, Facebook suffered a major attack when…
Facebook Data Deals Extend to Microsoft, Amazon, Netflix
If you shared data with Facebook over the past few years, there’s a high chance Facebook handed it to Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify, or any of the other 150 companies that benefited from extensive data-sharing deals with the social media giant, The New York Times reports. Internal Facebook records provide a more detailed look at data-sharing…
Facebook Increases Rewards for Account Hacking Vulnerabilities
According to Facebook, researchers can earn up to $40,000 if they report an account hijacking flaw that does not require any user interaction, and $25,000 if minimum user interaction is required for the exploit to work. The bounty applies to Facebook and other services owned by the company, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus. “By increasing…
945 data breaches led to compromise of 4.5 billion data records in first half of 2018
Gemalto released the latest findings of the Breach Level Index, a global database of public data breaches, revealing 945 data breaches led to 4.5 billion data records being compromised worldwide in the first half of 2018. Compared to the same period in 2017, the number of lost, stolen or compromised records increased by a staggering…
Facebook Pulls Security App From Apple Store Over Privacy
The twin developments come as Facebook is under intense scrutiny over privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year. Allegations that the political consultancy used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts have dented Facebook’s reputation. Since the scandal broke, Facebook has investigated thousands of apps and suspended more than 400 of them…
Facebook Responding to US Regulators in Data Breach Probe
Facebook acknowledged Tuesday it was facing multiple inquiries from US and British regulators about the major Cambridge Analytica user data scandal. The leading social network offered no details but its admission confirmed reports of a widening investigation into the misuse of private data by Facebook and its partners. “We are cooperating with officials in the…
PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY – Part 2: How to Maximize Your Privacy on Social Media and in Your Browser
In the last post we highlighted the privacy risks associated with using popular social networking sites and browsers. You might not appreciate just how much of your personal data is being accessed by advertisers and other third parties via your social media accounts and internet browsing. Similarly, your privacy settings may have changed significantly since…