As many as 50 million Facebook users had their social media data swept up in a massive data grab by a private app developer. Facebook users taking a simple psychology quiz may have unknowingly given away private information from their friends. Then the creator of the quiz sold that data treasure trove to a political targeting firm involved in the 2016 elections.
Despite the mounting evidence that the data were sold without the users’ knowledge, Facebook hasn't provided a way for consumers to find out whether or not their data were included. Now Consumer Reports is calling on Facebook to take a first step of immediately notifying everyone who had their data scraped and sold by this company.
Dear Facebook,
We are concerned by recent news reports that indicate the data of 50 million Facebook users may have been swept up and sold by outside private companies. As a major social networking platform, it’s Facebook’s responsibility to keep our data safe from third-party threats. Facebook should do more in the future to prevent incidents like this one.
As a first step toward making this right, Facebook should notify consumers who were affected or may have had their private information sold off of the platform.
Sign our petition now to call on Facebook to notify users if their private data were compromised.
As many as 50 million Facebook users had their social media data swept up in a massive data grab by a private app developer. Facebook users taking a simple psychology quiz may have unknowingly given away private information from their friends. Then the creator of the quiz sold that data treasure trove to a political targeting firm involved in the 2016 elections.
Despite the mounting evidence that the data were sold without the users’ knowledge, Facebook hasn't provided a way for consumers to find out whether or not their data were included. Now Consumer Reports is calling on Facebook to take a first step of immediately notifying everyone who had their data scraped and sold by this company.
Dear Facebook,
We are concerned by recent news reports that indicate the data of 50 million Facebook users may have been swept up and sold by outside private companies. As a major social networking platform, it’s Facebook’s responsibility to keep our data safe from third-party threats. Facebook should do more in the future to prevent incidents like this one.
As a first step toward making this right, Facebook should notify consumers who were affected or may have had their private information sold off of the platform.
Sign our petition now to call on Facebook to notify users if their private data were compromised.