3 ms·

People really need to pay attention to the permissions they grant apps to their Facebook accounts. What happened was people installing a quiz app or game which

by verst 6y ago

People really need to pay attention to the permissions they grant apps to their Facebook accounts. What happened was people installing a quiz app or game which requested unnecessary data access but collected profile data and then (against Terms of Service) provided this data to a third party. I don't consider this Facebook selling data. And auditing this kind of behavior is incredibly difficult. Don't install apps that request access to your data, especially if you don't understand who owns the app and what their motivations are.

speedgoose 6y ago
What if a friend install such an app? It's what happened. What if a quiz app could not require so much knowledge about privacy by design? Facebook is responsible.
HenryBemis 6y ago
This is why I mentioned that the sale is not (e.g.) $5 per user. But if someone has access to 1000 users' data and pays $5000 for that access, well, it's kinda the same thing. Auditing such process is a joke. No such audit will ever exist, as the results would be documented and leave a trail of misappropriation and abuse (of data). The only audits 'allowed' by the business would me the innocuous ITGCs. I invite anyone from FB with audit related experience to comment (please use a TA account and be as vague as you can to prevent tracing).
unionpivo 6y ago
you make it sound like facebook was innocent here. Facebook build api and functionality that enabled data to be slurped, they also build how the warnings of what data is being exported to whom are displayed (or not). Further more, since they control all the data in the first place it wouldn't be difficult for them to show a page that shows exactly which entity accessed what data they have on you. Bottom line is that this whole mess couldn't happen without Facebook deliberately making decisions that enabled it. And I know some of the smart people that worked there at that time. I don't believe for a second that nobody at Facebook had any idea what was happening.
- cm2012 6y ago
  Facebook made the data "slurpable" because techies at the time were demanding FB be more open with their data instead of being a walled garden. That was the programming community zeitgeist at the time.

by verst 6y ago

speedgoose 6y ago

What if a friend install such an app? It's what happened. What if a quiz app could not require so much knowledge about privacy by design? Facebook is responsible.

HenryBemis 6y ago

This is why I mentioned that the sale is not (e.g.) $5 per user. But if someone has access to 1000 users' data and pays $5000 for that access, well, it's kinda the same thing. Auditing such process is a joke. No such audit will ever exist, as the results would be documented and leave a trail of misappropriation and abuse (of data). The only audits 'allowed' by the business would me the innocuous ITGCs. I invite anyone from FB with audit related experience to comment (please use a TA account and be as vague as you can to prevent tracing).

unionpivo 6y ago

you make it sound like facebook was innocent here. Facebook build api and functionality that enabled data to be slurped, they also build how the warnings of what data is being exported to whom are displayed (or not). Further more, since they control all the data in the first place it wouldn't be difficult for them to show a page that shows exactly which entity accessed what data they have on you. Bottom line is that this whole mess couldn't happen without Facebook deliberately making decisions that enabled it. And I know some of the smart people that worked there at that time. I don't believe for a second that nobody at Facebook had any idea what was happening.

cm2012 6y ago
Facebook made the data "slurpable" because techies at the time were demanding FB be more open with their data instead of being a walled garden. That was the programming community zeitgeist at the time.