CIT Research Forum -> Facebook

Facebook

Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

Ligon	Posted: May 9 2010, 05:56 PM
A Regular Jim Garrison Group: Admin Posts: 2,218 Member No.: 144 Joined: 14-July 08	Facebook Glitch Brings New Privacy Worries (NY Times) May 5, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/technolo...06facebook.html "On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations." Facebook glitch a nightmare for users (Tech Jackal) May 9, 2010 http://www.techjackal.net/space/2010/05/09...mare-for-users/ Facebook's gone Rogue; It's Time for an Open Alternative (Wired) May 7, 2010 http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/ Five Hidden Dangers of Facebook (CBS News) May 7, 2010 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/08/...in6469373.shtml Facebook Privacy Issues Highlighted Again By Security Hole (Times Newsline) May 9, 2010 http://www.timesnewsline.com/news/Facebook...ole-1273433683/ The Facebook Privacy War: What is Personal Data? (Wired) http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/05/the-f...Stories+2%29%29 There's even more articles if you search Google News Finally, oldie but goodie from 2005... Facebook: Big Brother With a Smile http://web.archive.org/web/20051031151040/...thefacebook.htm And the video adaptation... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMWz3G_gPhU

Ligon

Posted: May 21 2010, 09:24 AM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Facebook Shared Personal Data With Advertisers Without User Consent
By SAM GUSTIN Posted 11:45 PM 05/20/10

Facebook, the giant social network now under fire over its privacy practices, has been sending personal information to online advertising companies without its users' consent, according to a Harvard Business School professor who filed a letter of complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Thursday.

"Facebook has been telling its users one thing and then doing the opposite," Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, told DailyFinance Thursday. "Facebook never told anyone, anywhere, they were going to do this. It's no longer about quality of disclosure, but about whether Facebook is telling the truth in the first place."

See full article from DailyFinance: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-...phere_copyright

Ligon

Posted: May 23 2010, 07:36 PM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Are users �dumb fucks� for trusting data to Facebook?
Embarrassing conversation comes back to haunt embattled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
By Tim Edwards
LAST UPDATED 2:28 PM, MAY 14, 2010

A row over Facebook's casual attitude towards the privacy of its 400 million users is threatening to snowball into a full-blown crisis as high-profile members start closing their accounts.

Facebook seems to deem the situation serious enough to have called an 'all hands' meeting of its staff yesterday to address concerns over data protection.

The situation was inflamed when Silicon Alley Insider posted an old instant messaging conversation between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a friend in which the then 19-year-old Harvard student called users of his newly founded website 'dumb fucks'.

During the conversation, Zuckerberg writes: "Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard, just ask. I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS."

When the friend asks him how he got the information, Zuckerberg replies: "People just submitted it. I don't know why. They 'trust me'. Dumb fucks."

Facebook responded to the publication of the 'dumb fucks' message, saying: "The privacy and security of our users' information is of paramount importance to us. We're not going to debate claims from anonymous sources or dated allegations that attempt to characterise Mark's and Facebook's views towards privacy."

Rea full article here: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/63382,news-c...k#ixzz0ooZscwxb

QUOTE

Well, These New Zuckerberg IMs Won't Help Facebook's Privacy Problems
Nicholas Carlson | May 13, 2010, 11:19 AM

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his company are suddenly facing a big new round of scrutiny and criticism about their cavalier attitude toward user privacy.

An early instant messenger exchange Mark had with a college friend won't help put these concerns to rest.

According to SAI sources, the following exchange is between a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg and a friend shortly after Mark launched The Facebook in his dorm room:

QUOTE

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard

Zuck: Just ask.

Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS

[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?

Zuck: People just submitted it.

Zuck: I don't know why.

Zuck: They "trust me"

Zuck: Dumb fucks.

Brutal.

See full article from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/well-these-...5#ixzz0ooYJZr00

Ligon

Posted: Jul 30 2010, 02:16 PM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Details of 100 million Facebook users published online
Users' personal information cannot now be made private, security consultant says
msnbc.com
updated 7/29/2010 8:59:38 AM ET

The personal details of 100 million Facebook users have been collected and published online in a downloadable file, meaning they will now be unable to make their publicly available information private.

However, Facebook downplayed the issue, saying that no private data had been compromised.

The information was posted by Ron Bowes, an online security consultant, on the Internet site Pirate Bay.

Bowes used code to scan the 500 million Facebook profiles for information not hidden by privacy settings. The resulting file, which allows people to perform searches of various different types, has been downloaded by several thousand people.

This means that if any of those on the list decide to change their privacy settings on Facebook, Bowes and those who have the file will still be able to access information that was public when it was compiled.

Bowes� actions also mean people who had set their privacy settings so their names did not appear in Facebook�s search system can now be found if they were friends with anyone whose name was searchable.

Read the rest of the article / more here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38463013/ns/te...ience-security/

See also this related thread
Library of Congress to archive all tweets ever

Ligon

Posted: May 1 2011, 04:43 PM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Facebook accused of removing activists' pages
Protest groups claim Facebook has taken down dozens of pages over the weekend in a purge of activists' accounts
guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 April 2011 23.27 BS

Facebook has removed dozens of profiles from its site, causing an outcry from campaigners trying to organise anti-austerity protests this weekend.

The deactivated pages include UK Uncut, and pages created by students during last December's university occupations.

A list posted on the Stop Facebook Purge group says Chesterfield Stop the Cuts, Tower Hamlet Greens, London Student Assembly, Southwark SoS and Bristol Uncut sites are no longer functioning.

Administrators for the profiles say hundreds of links between activists have been broken in the run up to the May Day bank holiday. When users click on URL links the message "the page you requested was not found" now appears.

Guy Aitchison, 26, an administrator for one of the non-functioning pages, said: "I woke up this morning to find that a lot of the groups we'd been using for anti cuts activity had disappeared. The timing of it seems suspicious, given a general political crackdown because of the wedding. It seems that dozens of other groups have also been affected, including some of the local UK Uncut groups."

It is not yet known how many groups have been affected in total. A Facebook spokeswoman explained that the profiles were suspended because they had not been registered correctly and denied that the removal of pages was politically motivated or instigated by law enforcement concerns before the royal wedding.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/...activists-pages

Ligon

Posted: Jun 19 2011, 07:28 AM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

6 months ago (Dec 2010)...

QUOTE

Automatic photo tagging: Facebook friendships get creepier
by Paul Ducklin on December 17, 2010

The latest enhancement - or, at least, the latest new feature - announced by Facebook is increased automation for photo tagging.

Unlike graffiti tagging, where you spray-paint your name onto someone else's property, Facebook lets you paint other people's names onto your pictures.

So even people who aren't on Facebook, or who choose not to identify themselves openly in uploaded photos, may nevertheless end up easy-to-find online.

Now, you won't need to select or group the photos yourself. Facebook will use facial recognition to match the people in your photos with other images in which they appear. It's not yet completely automatic - the tags are just suggestions - but it sounds creepy nevertheless.

You can opt out of auto-suggestion (no pun intended), but it sounds as though this feature is going to be enabled by default, since Facebook's announcement advises that "you will be able to disable suggested tags in your Privacy Settings." And you will be notified whenever you're tagged, but only in case you want to untag yourself, not in order to confirm that you want to be tagged in the first place.

Read the full article here: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/12/17...s-get-creepier/

June 7, 2011...

QUOTE

Facebook changes privacy settings for millions of users - facial recognition is enabled
by Graham Cluley on June 7, 2011

When Facebook revealed last year it was introducing facial recognition technology to help users tag their friends in photographs, they gave the functionality to North American users only.

Most of the rest of us found the option in our privacy settings was "not yet available", which meant we could neither enable or disable it. We simply had to wait until Facebook decided to roll it out to our account.

Well, now might be a good time to check your Facebook privacy settings as many Facebook users are reporting that the site has enabled the option in the last few days without giving users any notice.

There are billions of photographs on Facebook's servers. As your Facebook friends upload their albums, Facebook will try to determine if any of the pictures look like you. And if they find what they believe to be a match, they may well urge one of your Facebook friends to tag it with your name.

[...]

Earlier this year, Sophos wrote an open letter to Facebook. Amongst other things, we asked for "privacy by default" - meaning that there should be no more sharing of information without users' express agreement (OPT-IN).

Unfortunately, once again, Facebook seems to be sharing personal information by default. Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like, and using that information without their permission.

Read full article here: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/06/07...nition-enabled/

June 10, 2011...

QUOTE

EPIC Files Complaint, Urges Investigation of Facebook's Facial Recognition Techniques
June 10, 2011

Today EPIC, and several privacy organizations, filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about Facebook's automated tagging of Facebook users.

EPIC alleged that the service was unfair and deceptive and urged the FTC to require Facebook to suspend the program, pending a full investigation, the establishment of stronger privacy standards, and a requirement that automated identification, based on user photos, require opt-in consent.

EPIC alleged that "Users could not reasonably have known that Facebook would use their photos to build a biometric database in order to implement a facial recognition technology under the control of Facebook."

EPIC warned that "absent injunctive relief by the Commission, Facebook will likely expand the use of the facial recognition database it has covertly established for purposes over which Facebook users will be able to exercise no meaningful control."

EPIC has previously filed two complaints with the Commission regarding Facebook. For more information see EPIC: Facebook Privacy.

SOURCE: http://epic.org/2011/06/epic-files-complaint-urges-inv.html

Many more articles out there right now, such as...

Connecticut Concerned About Facebook Face Recognition (PC World)
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/arti...ecognition.html

EU to probe Facebook over facial recognition feature (ZDNet)
By Emil Protalinski | June 8, 2011, 8:28am PD
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/eu-to-p...on-feature/1578

Facebook facial-recognition feature draws criticism (LA Times)
June 09, 2011|By Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/09/bu...nition-20110609

etc., etc....

Ligon

Posted: Sep 30 2011, 12:52 PM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

'We didn't mean to track you' says Facebook as social network giant admits to 'bugs' in new privacy row

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 4:35 PM on 28th September 2011

Facebook has admitted that it has been watching the web pages its members visit � even when they have logged out.

In its latest privacy blunder, the social networking site was forced to confirm that it has been constantly tracking its 750million users, even when they are using other sites.

The social networking giant says the huge privacy breach was simply a mistake - that software automatically downloaded to users' computers when they logged in to Facebook 'inadvertently' sent information to the company, whether or not they were logged in at the time.

Read the rest/more here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...dmits-bugs.html
Backup: http://www.webcitation.org/625qPlcw9

Ligon

Posted: Dec 6 2011, 07:47 PM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Facebook Flaw Exposes Private Photos
By Kim Zetter
Wired
December 6, 2011

A flaw in Facebook�s image reporting tool allows users to view the private photos of other users, including those of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg � like the one at the top of this story.

The flaw was found by members of a bodybuilding forum, who discovered that if they reported a public Facebook photo for abuse � using the tool that Facebook offers to report nudity or pornography � they could access other nonpublic photos for the same user they�re reporting, according to ZDNET.

Facebook�s tool asks the reporting user to help Facebook �take action by selecting additional photos to include with your report� then displays a handful of other private photos belonging to the individual that�s being reported. The person reporting the abuse, can then rifle through the user�s other images.

Members of the bodybuilder forum used the flaw to peruse the images of women they found attractive. [...]

http://naturalsociety.com/man-buys-1-milli...ormation-for-5/

Ligon

Posted: Oct 26 2012, 02:32 PM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Man Buys 1 Million Facebook Users� Personal Information for $5

Anthony Gucciardi
NaturalSociety
October 26, 2012

How much is your personal information worth? How about a data set consisting of over 1 million individual�s personal information complete with their full legal name, personal E-mail address, and URL to their Facebook account as confirmation? According to one �mystery� company that recently sold 1 million Facebook users� personal information to a very surprised blogger, not very much at all. About $5, to be specific.

It all started when one blogger, a self-proclaimed seeker of �cheap� deals that pertain to potentially useful or interesting subjects, stumbled across an offer for �1 million Facebook accounts� for $5. Skeptical but willing to try it out, the blogger purchased the list to be met with much surprise when he actually personally identified many of the users on the list to be people he actually knew personally. Complete with their personal E-mail address (which Facebook is supposed to keep �hidden�), full names, and a link to their page to verify, this blogger had stumbled across a major corporation�s dream come true.

...

After purchasing the list and being amazed at its legitimacy, the IT blogger posted an entry detailing the event along with screenshots and a surprising follow-up. Using his personal E-mail provided when signing up for his Facebook account, Facebook�s �policy� team member sent him an E-mail asking him to set up a call with the company. During the call, things got very concerning.

FACEBOOK REP: SEND US THE FILE, DELETE IT, AND TELL NO ONE

Starting off with a warning to the blogger that the phone call was being recorded, the unnamed Facebook rep told the blogger to send them the file of the 1 million users� information, delete it, and delete all traces of its mentioning off of his blog.

Not agreeing to censor the information, the blogger posted the quote from the phone conversation on his website:

�Now we would like you to send us this file, delete it, tell us if you have given a copy of it to someone, give us the website from which you bought it including all transactions with it and the payment system and remove a couple of things from your blog. Oh and by the way, you are not allowed to disclose any part of this conversation; it is a secret that we are even having this conversation�.

Proceeding to ask whether or not the rep would fill him in on what would be done by the company, the rep said that it was an internal issue and that he would not be allowed to know the result.

Read full story:
http://naturalsociety.com/man-buys-1-milli...ormation-for-5/

Ligon

Posted: Dec 5 2012, 09:51 AM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Facebook accused of massive 'data grab' with new service that automatically uploads your phone pictures
By Damien Gayle
PUBLISHED: 08:24 EST, 3 December 2012 | UPDATED: 11:02 EST, 3 December 2012

* Photo Sync being aggressively promoted to Facebook's mobile app users
* It will upload every single picture taken to the social network's servers
* Facebook will benefit from huge windfall of data it can commercialise
* It could use that data to build detailed database of users' lives

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art...e-pictures.html

Ligon

Posted: Dec 18 2012, 10:33 AM

A Regular Jim Garrison

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,218
Member No.: 144
Joined: 14-July 08

QUOTE

Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos

In its first big policy shift since Facebook bought the photo-sharing site, Instagram claims the right to sell users' photos without payment or notification. Oh, and there's no way to opt out.

by Declan McCullagh
December 17, 2012 9:54 PM PST

Instagram said today that it has the perpetual right to sell users' photographs without payment or notification, a dramatic policy shift that quickly sparked a public outcry.

The new intellectual property policy, which takes effect on January 16, comes three months after Facebook completed its acquisition of the popular photo-sharing site. Unless Instagram users delete their accounts before the January deadline, they cannot opt out.

Under the new policy, Facebook claims the perpetual right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, which would effectively transform the Web site into the world's largest stock photo agency. One irked Twitter user quipped that "Instagram is now the new iStockPhoto, except they won't have to pay you anything to use your images."

"It's asking people to agree to unspecified future commercial use of their photos," says Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "That makes it challenging for someone to give informed consent to that deal."

That means that a hotel in Hawaii, for instance, could write a check to Facebook to license photos taken at its resort and use them on its Web site, in TV ads, in glossy brochures, and so on -- without paying any money to the Instagram user who took the photo. The language would include not only photos of picturesque sunsets on Waikiki, but also images of young children frolicking on the beach, a result that parents might not expect, and which could trigger state privacy laws.

Facebook did not respond to repeated queries from CNET this afternoon. We'll update the article if we receive a response.

Another policy pitfall: If Instagram users continue to upload photos after January 16, 2013, and subsequently delete their account after the deadline, they may have granted Facebook an irrevocable right to sell those images in perpetuity. There's no obvious language that says deleting an account terminates Facebook's rights, EFF's Opsahl said.

Continues here:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57559710...ll-your-photos/

« Next Oldest | CIT community | Next Newest »

Free Forums with no limits on posts or members.
Learn More · Register for Free