More than 540 million Facebook records -- including users' comments, likes, account names and more -- were left exposed on an Amazon cloud-computing server, researchers discovered on Wednesday, marking the latest major privacy and security mishap to plague the social-networking giant.
Signage is displayed outside Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. By Tony Romm Tony Romm Staff writer covering technology policy Email Bio Follow April 3 at 2:27 PM More than 540 million Facebook records — including users’ comments, likes, account names and more — were left exposed on an Amazon cloud-computing server, researchers announced Wednesday, marking the latest major privacy and security mishap to plague the social-networking giant.
The trove is one of two data sets discovered to be in full public view by the security firm UpGuard, which also raised alarms with a second app developer that appears to have mishandled Facebook records including users’ interests and potentially their app passwords.Facebook said its policies prohibit app developers from “storing information in a public database,” adding in a statement Wednesday it has worked with Amazon to take them down.
“We are committed to working with the developers on our platform to protect people’s data," Facebook said.But the fact that such a vast, full cache of sensitive personal information could be accessed by anyone online raises fresh questions about Facebook’s efforts to protect its users’ privacy and prevent abuse from third-party developers who have access to it.
“The data exposed in each of these sets would not exist without Facebook, yet these data sets are no longer under Facebook’s control,” UpGuard wrote in its blog post.
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