Friday, December 14, 2018
A Facebook bug exposed photos from up to 6.8 million users using third-party apps, the company disclosed Friday, reports CNBC, which added that the exposed photos “include those that users never finished sharing to the site, Facebook said.
“The disclosure is one of several privacy scandals the company has grappled with over the past year. In March, reports from the New York Times and the Guardian shed light on how Cambridge Analytica used data on Facebook users to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In September, it announced a security breach that affected up to 50 million users and sent its stock price plunging more than 2.5 percent.
“Facebook said that photos that had yet to be shared could have been accessed by apps that users gave permission to access their Facebook photos. Facebook said that photos that hadn’t yet been shared on its platform could be accessed because the platform stores a copy of photos that users do not finish sharing on their profile after attempting to upload.
“Facebook said the bug in its photo API affected a 12 day window between Sept. 13 and Sept. 25 and gave access to up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers. Facebook said the bug did not affect photos that were shared in Messenger conversations and that Facebook became aware of the bug and fixed it on Sept. 25.”
More here.