https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/20/facebook-data-cambridge-analytica-sandy-parakilas
This has grown to a huge story!
Hundreds of millions of Facebookusers are likely to have had their private information harvested by companies that exploited the same terms as the firm that collected data and passed it on to Cambridge Analytica, according to a new whistleblower.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
David McCabe / Axios:
Progressive groups including Demand Progress to launch a “six-figure” ad offensive telling FTC to break off Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger from Facebook — A collection of progressive groups will launch a six figure digital ad offensive Monday telling the Federal Trade Commission …
The left turns up the heat to break up Facebook
https://www.axios.com/facebook-mark-zuckerburg-left-coalition-regulation-c79debfa-5ccd-4af8-a59f-71cb23aa6918.html
A collection of progressive groups will launch a six figure digital ad offensive Monday telling the Federal Trade Commission to break up Facebook’s social networking empire.
The groups are asking for the FTC to do three things:
Break off Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger into their own companies separate from Facebook proper.
Make it possible for users on competing social networks to communicate with one another.
Implement strong privacy rules.
Why now? The push coincides with the start of a new era at the FTC under Chairman Joe Simons, who has expressed some willingness to take on tech but also appointed a lawyer who represented Facebook to a key consumer protection position.
But, but, but: None of the new FTC commissioners have gone as far as to say that any of the giants of Silicon Valley, including Facebook, should be broken up.
Facebook has noticed the pressure
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘I’m sorry’, Facebook Boss Tells European Lawmakers
https://www.securityweek.com/im-sorry-facebook-boss-tells-european-lawmakers
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the European Parliament on Tuesday for the “harm” caused by a huge breach of users’ data and by a failure to crack down on fake news.
But Zuckerberg’s appearance failed to satisfy MEPs who accused him of dodging questions and criticized a format that gave the parliament’s political leaders far more time to give long-winded speeches.
His livestreamed testimony in Brussels was the latest stop on a tour of apology for the Cambridge Analytica scandal that saw him quizzed for ten hours in the US Congress in April, and will take him to Paris on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg said that while Facebook has brought in new features to connect people, it had become clear in the last two years that they “haven’t done enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm”.
“And that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections or developers misusing people’s information. We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility,” he said in his opening statement.
“That was a mistake, and I’m sorry for it.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zuckerberg avoided tough questions thanks to short EU testimony format
https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/22/zuckerberg-eu-testimony/?guccounter=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Papua New Guinea bans Facebook for a month to root out ‘fake users’
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/29/papua-new-guinea-facebook-ban-study-fake-users
Analysts will explore how fake news and pornography spreads, and assess whether country needs its own version of the platform
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook didn’t see Cambridge Analytica breach coming because it was focused ‘on the old threat’
https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/29/facebook-didnt-see-cambridge-analytica-breach-coming-because-it-was-focused-on-the-old-threat/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
In light of the massive data scandal involving Cambridge Analytica around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a lot of people wondered how something like that could’ve happened. Well, Facebook didn’t see it coming, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said at the Code conference this evening.
“If you go back to 2016 and you think about what people were worried about in terms of nations, states or election security, it was largely spam and phishing hacking,” Sandberg said. “That’s what people were worried about.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Facebook’s data-sharing deals with 60+ device makers, including Apple, Amazon, and Samsung, allowed deeper access to users’ personal info than previously known — The company formed data-sharing partnerships with Apple, Samsung and dozens of other device makers, raising new concerns about its privacy protections.
Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/03/technology/facebook-device-partners-users-friends-data.html
The company formed data-sharing partnerships with Apple, Samsung and dozens of other device makers, raising new concerns about its privacy protections.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times: Facebook on antanut 60 puhelinvalmistajalle pääsyn käyttäjiensä henkilökohtaisiin tietoihin
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10236918?utm_source=facebook-share&utm_medium=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
Democratic Congressman: “Looks Like Zuckerberg Lied To Congress”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-04/democratic-congressman-looks-zuckerberg-lied-congress
The Times reported Sunday evening that Facebook gave at least 60 major device manufacturers access to user data over the last decade – including Apple, Amazon, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung – as part of a data-sharing partnership program which allowed the companies to integrate various features such as messaging and “like” buttons into their products.
The agreement has allowed manufacturers to access information on relationship status, calendar events, political affiliations and religion, among other things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook says it “disagrees” with the New York Times’ criticisms of its device-integrated APIs
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/03/facebook-says-it-disagrees-with-the-new-york-times-criticisms-of-its-device-integrated-apis/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple jams Facebook’s web-tracking tools
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44360273
Apple will attempt to frustrate tools used by Facebook to automatically track web users, within the next version of its iOS and Mac operating systems.
“We’re shutting that down,” declared Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi, at the firm’s developers conference.
He added that the web browser Safari would ask owners’ permission before allowing the social network to monitor their activity.
The move is likely to add to tensions between the two companies.
Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook had previously described Facebook’s practices as being an “invasion of privacy” – an opinion Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg subsequently denounced as being “glib”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times: Facebook on antanut 60 puhelinvalmistajalle pääsyn käyttäjiensä henkilökohtaisiin tietoihin
Facebook puolustautuu sanomalla, ettei käyttäjätietoja ole käytetty väärin.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10236918?utm_source=facebook-share&utm_medium=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Facebook has had data-sharing partnerships with Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo, and TCL since at least 2010 and will wind down the Huawei deal by the end of the week — Facebook has data-sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese electronics companies, including a manufacturing giant …
Facebook Gave Data Access to Chinese Firm Flagged by U.S. Intelligence
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/technology/facebook-device-partnerships-china.html
Facebook has data-sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese electronics companies, including a manufacturing giant that has a close relationship with China’s government, the social media company said on Tuesday.
The agreements, which date to at least 2010, gave private access to some user data to Huawei, a telecommunications equipment company that has been flagged by American intelligence officials as a national security threat, as well as to Lenovo, Oppo and TCL.
The four partnerships remain in effect, but Facebook officials said in an interview that the company would wind down the Huawei deal by the end of the week.
Facebook gave access to the Chinese device makers along with other manufacturers — including Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry and Samsung — whose agreements were disclosed by The New York Times on Sunday.
Facebook officials said the agreements with the Chinese companies allowed them access similar to what was offered to BlackBerry, which could retrieve detailed information on both device users and all of their friends — including religious and political leanings, work and education history and relationship status.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/03/technology/facebook-device-partners-users-friends-data.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Says Chinese Phone Makers Got Access to Data
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-says-chinese-phone-makers-got-access-data
Facebook on Tuesday confirmed that a Chinese phone maker deemed a national security threat by the US was among companies given access to data on users.
Huawei was able to access Facebook data to get the leading social network’s applications to perform on smartphones, according to the California-based company.
“Facebook along with many other US tech companies have worked with them and other Chinese manufacturers to integrate their services onto these phones,” Facebook mobile partnerships leader Francisco Varela said in a released statement.
“Given the interest from Congress, we wanted to make clear that all the information from these integrations with Huawei was stored on the device, not on Huawei’s servers.”
Facebook also had data access deals with Lenovo, OPPO and TCL of China, according to Varela.
“Facebook’s integrations with Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL were controlled from the get go,” Varela said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Says Chinese Phone Makers Got Access to Data
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-says-chinese-phone-makers-got-access-data
Facebook on Tuesday confirmed that a Chinese phone maker deemed a national security threat by the US was among companies given access to data on users.
Huawei was able to access Facebook data to get the leading social network’s applications to perform on smartphones, according to the California-based company.
“Facebook along with many other US tech companies have worked with them and other Chinese manufacturers to integrate their services onto these phones,” Facebook mobile partnerships leader Francisco Varela said in a released statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Bug Caused New Posts by 14 Million Users to be Shared Publicly
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/facebook-bug-caused-new-posts-by-14-million-users-to-be-shared-publicly/
Facebook just can’t get it together as we learn about another major privacy breach on their platform. This time it was caused by an internal bug that caused any new posts created by 14 million Facebook users to be posted publicly rather than using their default setting.
When posting on Facebook, users have the ability to specify who can see their posts by using a drop down menu where they can select “Public” (anyone), “Friends”, or “Friends and Connections”. This drop down menu is called the “audience selector” and will retain the setting that you previously used for new posts going forward.
According to CNN, between May 18th and the 22th a bug caused around 14 million people to have their default sharing settings set to “Public” for any new Facebook posts that were created. This means any posts that they made could be read by anyone regardless of their default setting.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.is.fi/digitoday/art-2000005711053.html?ref=rss
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Admits Privacy Settings ‘Bug’ Affecting 14 Million Users
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-admits-privacy-settings-bug-affecting-14-million-users
Facebook acknowledged Thursday a software glitch that changed the settings of some 14 million users, potentially making some posts public even if they were intended to be private.
The news marked the latest in a series of privacy embarrassments for the world’s biggest social network, which has faced a firestorm over the hijacking of personal data on tens of millions of users and more recently for disclosures on data-sharing deals with smartphone makers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Disturbing Congress Documents Reveal Even MORE Things That Facebook Knows About You
http://www.iflscience.com/technology/disturbing-congress-documents-reveal-even-more-things-that-facebook-knows-about-you/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Facebook’s probe of its platform’s developers finds that some developers who took large chunks of data are out of business and some won’t cooperate
Facebook’s Latest Problem: It Can’t Track Where Much of the Data Went
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-problem-it-doesnt-know-where-all-the-data-went-1530106200
Company’s internal probe finds that some developers who scooped up data are now out of business, and others won’t cooperate
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yet another massive Facebook fail: Quiz app leaked data on ~120M users for years
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/28/facepalm-2/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
Facebook knows the historical app audit it’s conducting in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal is going to result in a tsunami of skeletons tumbling out of its closet.
It’s already suspended around 200 apps as a result of the audit — which remains ongoing, with no formal timeline announced for when the process (and any associated investigations that flow from it) will be concluded.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inti De Ceukelaire:
Researcher: Facebook quiz maker NameTests exposed personal info of ~120M users for years, in a data leak that was fixed after the Cambridge Analytica scandal
This popular Facebook app publicly exposed your data for years
https://medium.com/@intideceukelaire/this-popular-facebook-app-publicly-exposed-your-data-for-years-12483418eff8
Ever took a personality test on Facebook? For years, anyone could have accessed your private information, friends, posts and photos.
Nametests.com, the website behind the quizzes, recently fixed a flaw that publicly exposed information of their more than 120 million monthly users — even after they deleted the app.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Catalin Cimpanu / BleepingComputer:
Norwegian agency report: Facebook and Google manipulate users to share personal data using “dark patterns” despite GDPR; Windows 10 gets a more favorable rating
Facebook, Google Manipulate Users to Share Personal Data Despite GDPR
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/facebook-google-manipulate-users-to-share-personal-data-despite-gdpr/
Despite the new GDPR regulation entering into effect across Europe, Facebook and Google are manipulating users into sharing personal data by leveraging misleading wording and confusing interfaces, according to a report released today by the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC).
In its 44-page report, the Norwegian agency accuses Google and Facebook of using so-called “dark patterns” user interface elements into “nudging” users towards accepting privacy options.
These dark patterns include misleading privacy-intrusive default settings, misleading wording, giving users an illusion of control, hiding away privacy-friendly choices, take-it-or-leave-it choices, and choice architectures where choosing the privacy-friendly option requires more effort for the users.
DECEIVED BY DESIGN
https://fil.forbrukerradet.no/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-06-27-deceived-by-design-final.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook rolls out more API restrictions and shutdowns
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/02/facebook-rolls-out-more-api-restrictions-and-shutdowns/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Following the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal and the more recent discovery of a Facebook app that had been leaking data on 120 million users, Facebook is today announcing a number of API changes aimed at better protecting user information.
Some of the APIs are being shuttered for low adoption, while others will require app reviews going forward, Facebook said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook App Exposed Data of 120 Million Users
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-app-exposed-data-120-million-users
A recently addressed privacy bug on Nametests.com resulted in the data of over 120 million users who took personality quizzes on Facebook to be publicly exposed.
Patched as part of Facebook’s Data Abuse Bounty Program, the vulnerability resided in Nametests.com serving users’ data to any third-party that requested it, something that shouldn’t normally happen.
Facebook launched its Data Abuse Bounty Program in April, as part of its efforts to improve user privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The company also updated its terms on privacy and data sharing, but also admitted to tracking people over the Internet, even those who are not Facebook users.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Notifies 800,000 Users of Blocking Bug
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-notifies-800000-users-blocking-bug
Facebook on Monday started notifying 800,000 users affected by a bug that resulted in blocked individuals getting temporarily unblocked. The social media giant also detailed some new API restrictions designed to better protect user information.
When you block someone on Facebook, you prevent them from seeing your posts, starting conversations on Messenger, or adding you as a friend. However, a Facebook and Messenger bug introduced in May 29 and addressed on June 5 led to users being able to see some of the content posted by individuals who had blocked them.
New API restrictions and changes
Facebook also announced on Monday additional measures taken following the Cambridge Analytica incident, in which personal data on tens of millions of users was improperly shared with the British political consultancy through an app.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Responding to US Regulators in Data Breach Probe
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-responding-us-regulators-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 US, UK and beyond,” a Facebook spokesman said in response to an AFP query.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook suspends analytics firm Crimson Hexagon over data use concerns
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/20/facebook-suspends-analytics-firm-crimson-hexagon-over-data-use-concerns/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
AdChoices
Facebook suspends analytics firm Crimson Hexagon over data use concerns
Devin Coldewey
@techcrunch / 12 hours ago
facebook-free the-social-graph
As part of its ongoing mission to close the barn doors after the cows have got out, Facebook has suspended the accounts of British data analytics firm Crimson Hexagon over concerns that it may be improperly handling user data.
The ominously named company has for years used official APIs to siphon public posts from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other sources online, collating and analyzing for various purposes, such as to gauge public opinion on a political candidate or issue. It has clients around the world, serving Russia and Turkey as well as the U.S. and United Kingdom.
Facebook, it seems, was not fully aware of the extent of Crimson Hexagon’s use of user data
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why (almost) everything reported about the Cambridge Analytica Facebook ‘hacking’ controversy is wrong
https://medium.com/@CKava/why-almost-everything-reported-about-the-cambridge-analytica-facebook-hacking-controversy-is-db7f8af2d042
Asked what kind of control Facebook had over the data given to outside developers, he replied: “Zero. Absolutely none. Once the data left Facebook servers there was not any control, and there was no insight into what was going on. Parakilas said he “always assumed there was something of a black market” for Facebook data that had been passed to external developers.
So given how prevalent Facebook data harvesting was and that there are many developers with more than 270,000 users to harvest from, why is Cambridge Analytica receiving so much media attention?
The answer to this seems to primarily be how journalists, particularly Carole Cadwalladr at the Observer, have framed the story.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook loses $120 billion in market cap after awful Q2 earnings
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/25/fallbook/
Facebook’s share price fell over 20 percent in after-hours trading today after the company announced its slowest-ever user growth rate and a scary warning that its revenue growth would rapidly decelerate. Before today’s brutal Q2 earnings, Facebook’s share price closed today at $217.50 – a record high — but fell to around $172 after the earnings call. That’s a market cap drop of roughly $123 billion. In two hours, Facebook lost more value than most startups and even public companies are ever worth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
2.5 billion people use at least one of Facebook’s apps
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/25/facebook-2-5-billion-people/
Facebook is hiding that users are leaving its main app but sticking with Instagram and WhatsApp by publicizing a new metric. Facebook today for the first time announced that in June, 2.5 billion people used at least one of its apps: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger. That’s a helpful number because it counts real people, rather than accounts, since people can have multiple accounts on a single app.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook finally hands over leave campaign Brexit ads
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/26/facebook-finally-hands-over-leave-campaign-brexit-ads/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
AdChoices
Facebook finally hands over leave campaign Brexit ads
Natasha Lomas
@riptari / 4 hours ago
brexit
The UK parliament has provided another telling glimpse behind the curtain of Facebook’s unregulated ad platform by publishing data on scores of pro-Brexit adverts which it distributed to UK voters during the 2016 referendum on European Union membership. The ads were run on behalf of several vote leave campaigns who paid a third company to use Facebook’s ad targeting tools.
The ads were run prior to Facebook having any disclosure rules for political ads. So there was no way for anyone other than each target recipient to know a particular ad existed or who it was being targeted at.
The targeting of the ads was carried out on Facebook’s platform by AggregateIQ, a Canadian data firm that has been linked to Cambridge Analytica/SCL — aka the political consultancy at the center of a massive Facebook data misuse storm,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook bans first app since Cambridge Analytica, myPersonality, and suspends hundreds more
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/22/facebook-bans-first-app-since-cambridge-analytica-mypersonality-and-suspends-hundreds-more/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Facebook announced today that it had banned the app myPersonality for improper data controls and suspended hundreds more. So far this is only the second app to be banned as a result of the company’s large-scale audit begun in March; but as myPersonality hasn’t been active since 2012, and was to all appearances a legitimate academic operation, it’s a bit of a mystery why they bothered.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources detail Sheryl Sandberg’s expanding role at Facebook following its delayed response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which she saw as a disaster
Sheryl Sandberg’s New Job Is to Fix Facebook’s Reputation—and Her Own
https://www.wsj.com/articles/sheryl-sandberg-leans-into-a-gale-of-bad-news-at-facebook-1536085230
Amid questions about her influence at the social network, the high-profile executive has been asked to tackle safety and security issues
Facebook Inc. FB -2.60% Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was the architect of a business strategy that built the social network from a fast-growing but wobbly startup into a global advertising juggernaut with a market value of more than half a trillion dollars.
But during five nightmarish days in March, she and her communications team couldn’t figure out how to address the public’s mounting outrage over allegations that political firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly accessed data on tens of millions of Facebook users. While anger grew, she and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg remained silent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloak and Data: The Real Story Behind Cambridge Analytica’s Rise and Fall
The secretive data firm said it could move the minds of American voters. That wasn’t its real victory.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/cloak-and-data-cambridge-analytica-robert-mercer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
UK watchdog hands Facebook maximum £500K fine over Cambridge Analytica data breach
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/25/uk-watchdog-hands-facebook-500k-fine/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has confirmed that it has hit Facebook with a maximum £500,000 ($645,000) fine around the way it mishandled user data following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year.
While £500,000 is a drop in the ocean for the U.S. company, it represents the maximum allowable punishment under UK law, which is the significant part to focus on here.
The introduction of GDPR has given the ICO the power to issue fines of up to £17 million ($22 million) or four percent of a company’s global turnover — that’s potentially up to $1.6 billion in Facebook’s case.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Appeals its UK Fine in Cambridge Analytica Scandal
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-appeals-its-uk-fine-cambridge-analytica-scandal
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Facebook promised in May it would let users clear their browsing history, but the company now says the privacy feature is still several months away — “It’s taking longer than we initially had thought.” — Back in May, at the height of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal …
Facebook still hasn’t launched a big privacy feature that Mark Zuckerberg promised more than seven months ago
https://www.recode.net/2018/12/17/18140062/facebook-clear-history-update-privacy-targeting-data-collection
“It’s taking longer than we initially had thought.”
Back in May, at the height of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, the company made a timely announcement: Facebook users would soon be able to clear the browsing history connected to their Facebook profile, meaning that the company would no longer link users to the apps and websites they visited off of the social network.
The product, called “Clear History,” got a lot of attention. Not only is browsing data important — Facebook uses it to target people with advertising — but CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Clear History himself during Facebook’s annual developer conference. Clear History was an olive branch meant to show everyone how serious Facebook is about privacy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Italy stings Facebook with $1.1M fine for Cambridge Analytica data misuse
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/28/italy-stings-facebook-with-1-1m-fine-for-cambridge-analytica-data-misuse/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s the personality test Cambridge Analytica had Facebook users take
https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-personality-test-cambridge-analytica-data-trump-election-2018-3
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cambridge Analytica dismantled for good? Nope: It just changed its name to Emerdata
Shock shutdown – THE TRUTH
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/02/cambridge_analytica_shutdown/
The company formerly known as Cambridge Analytica shocked the media today when it announced an immediate shutdown and liquidation of its business.
That “shutdown,” however, may be short-lived as official documents indicate those behind the controversial analytics company will be launching as a new firm with a less-toxic brand