6 ms·

I'm completely unsurprised that my phone number is in there despite the fact that I deleted and closed my account 10 years ago.

2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
I got a bunch of spam phone calls today.
shnp 6y ago
I deleted my phone number around mid-2018 and it’s also part of the leak tying the phone number to my name and gender https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26708923 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26708923
- milofeynman 6y ago
  Similar experience. Class action?
  - shnp 6y ago
    I started taking and deleting my data off FB 5 years ago, after I knew better. I'm only on FB because of messenger, and checks FB less than once a month. I think that's a better approach than suing them and getting the $10 from a class action.
    - sm4rk0 6y ago
      Why not both?
- hendersoon 6y ago
  We don't know exactly when the data was exfiltrated, just that it ended in early 2019. It could have been taken at any point before that time.
  - shnp 6y ago
    Yeah it could be, will have to wait for more details first. I would not be surprised if FB kept that phone number with a "deleted" flag to this day though.
  - sm4rk0 6y ago
    Earliest date in one of the columns (last login?) is something around 2019-04-28.
deepstack 6y ago
Yeah these companies that rely on user data will NEVER delete your data once you submit it to them (regardless if they say your data is deleted or account closed). For company like FB you are the product.
- rorykoehler 6y ago
  Data leaks like this are positive in that regard because we can prove they haven’t complied with GDPR quite easily if our deleted data comes up.
Crontab 6y ago
Couldn't it be there from someone who knows you? I was under the impression that Facebook grabbed people's contacts list on mobile apps.
- comeonseriously 6y ago
  So, that begs the question: If _my_ phone number is in someone _else's_ contacts, is it still _my_ phone number?
  - ghaff 6y ago
    It's your phone number (or possibly also the phone number of the person who had it before you) but, like images of yourself, they're probably in tons of places that you don't control and never will.
  - hnick 6y ago
    It is still PII which sometimes has specific laws and rules around its use depending on where you are. If I give someone's social security number to a company that doesn't mean they can publish it on the front page just because the person it belongs to didn't hand it over.
- davidjohnstone 6y ago
  My understanding is that all numbers in the dump correspond with Facebook accounts, so this shouldn't be the reason. Another option would be that someone else has that number listed for their account. Has Facebook always required confirmation that a number is valid? I saw one my friends' numbers in the data except the account had a different name.
HatchedLake721 6y ago
Did you deactivate or delete your facebook account? As I understand, deactivation is temporary, deletion erases all data. But if people did delete their accounts and Facebook didn't erase the private data, aren't there consequences to this?
- arcturus17 6y ago
  > As I understand, deactivation is temporary, deletion erases all data That's the problem, what we or regulators understand may well be very different to what actually happens > aren't there consequences to this A slap on the wrist at best, I'd bet my house on it
  - snarfy 6y ago
    'Erases' all data, or sets the is_deleted flag.
- drcongo 6y ago
  Full delete. I was very careful about it at the time.
nerbert 6y ago
If you’re a EU citizen contact your local data protection authority and file a complaint. It literally takes 5 minutes.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- dgellow 6y ago
  Relevant links. "What should I do if I think that my personal data protection rights haven’t been respected? " https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rights-citizens/redress/what-should-i-do-if-i-think-my-personal-data-protection-rights-havent-been-respected_en https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/refo... "European Data Protection Board Members" https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en
  - divbzero 6y ago
    Yes, please do this if you are protected by European regulations. I also wish we could do more to put pressure on Facebook and other bad players. Can’t help thinking this is viewed internally as just more work for the legal department followed by an X billion euro “cost of doing business” fine after so many years.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  And Facebook will promptly ignore that too: https://ruben.verborgh.org/facebook/ https://ruben.verborgh.org/facebook/
  - lupire 6y ago
    1. That article is about downloading, not deleting. 2. You don't negotiate with Facebook, you norify the regulators so they can asses another billion-euro fine.
    - zoobab 6y ago
gruez 6y ago
My experience is completely opposite to yours. I have a facebook account, phone number added and verified, profile privacy set to "friends only", but I can't find myself in the leaks.
- scrollaway 6y ago
  My understanding of the dump is that it was scraped, thus it's non exhaustive by nature. There's only half a billion accounts in it after all, and Facebook has far more.
insiderreporter 6y ago
Mark Zuckerberg's phone number is there too.

2muchcoffeeman 6y ago

I got a bunch of spam phone calls today.

shnp 6y ago

I deleted my phone number around mid-2018 and it’s also part of the leak tying the phone number to my name and gender https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26708923 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26708923

milofeynman 6y ago
Similar experience. Class action?
- shnp 6y ago
  I started taking and deleting my data off FB 5 years ago, after I knew better. I'm only on FB because of messenger, and checks FB less than once a month. I think that's a better approach than suing them and getting the $10 from a class action.
  - sm4rk0 6y ago
    Why not both?
hendersoon 6y ago
We don't know exactly when the data was exfiltrated, just that it ended in early 2019. It could have been taken at any point before that time.
- shnp 6y ago
  Yeah it could be, will have to wait for more details first. I would not be surprised if FB kept that phone number with a "deleted" flag to this day though.
- sm4rk0 6y ago
  Earliest date in one of the columns (last login?) is something around 2019-04-28.

deepstack 6y ago

Yeah these companies that rely on user data will NEVER delete your data once you submit it to them (regardless if they say your data is deleted or account closed). For company like FB you are the product.

rorykoehler 6y ago
Data leaks like this are positive in that regard because we can prove they haven’t complied with GDPR quite easily if our deleted data comes up.

Crontab 6y ago

Couldn't it be there from someone who knows you? I was under the impression that Facebook grabbed people's contacts list on mobile apps.

comeonseriously 6y ago
So, that begs the question: If _my_ phone number is in someone _else's_ contacts, is it still _my_ phone number?
- ghaff 6y ago
  It's your phone number (or possibly also the phone number of the person who had it before you) but, like images of yourself, they're probably in tons of places that you don't control and never will.
- hnick 6y ago
  It is still PII which sometimes has specific laws and rules around its use depending on where you are. If I give someone's social security number to a company that doesn't mean they can publish it on the front page just because the person it belongs to didn't hand it over.
davidjohnstone 6y ago
My understanding is that all numbers in the dump correspond with Facebook accounts, so this shouldn't be the reason. Another option would be that someone else has that number listed for their account. Has Facebook always required confirmation that a number is valid? I saw one my friends' numbers in the data except the account had a different name.

HatchedLake721 6y ago

Did you deactivate or delete your facebook account? As I understand, deactivation is temporary, deletion erases all data. But if people did delete their accounts and Facebook didn't erase the private data, aren't there consequences to this?

arcturus17 6y ago
> As I understand, deactivation is temporary, deletion erases all data That's the problem, what we or regulators understand may well be very different to what actually happens > aren't there consequences to this A slap on the wrist at best, I'd bet my house on it
- snarfy 6y ago
  'Erases' all data, or sets the is_deleted flag.
drcongo 6y ago
Full delete. I was very careful about it at the time.

nerbert 6y ago

If you’re a EU citizen contact your local data protection authority and file a complaint. It literally takes 5 minutes.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dgellow 6y ago
Relevant links. "What should I do if I think that my personal data protection rights haven’t been respected? " https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rights-citizens/redress/what-should-i-do-if-i-think-my-personal-data-protection-rights-havent-been-respected_en https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/refo... "European Data Protection Board Members" https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en
- divbzero 6y ago
  Yes, please do this if you are protected by European regulations. I also wish we could do more to put pressure on Facebook and other bad players. Can’t help thinking this is viewed internally as just more work for the legal department followed by an X billion euro “cost of doing business” fine after so many years.
Nextgrid 6y ago
And Facebook will promptly ignore that too: https://ruben.verborgh.org/facebook/ https://ruben.verborgh.org/facebook/
- lupire 6y ago
  1. That article is about downloading, not deleting. 2. You don't negotiate with Facebook, you norify the regulators so they can asses another billion-euro fine.
  - zoobab 6y ago

gruez 6y ago

My experience is completely opposite to yours. I have a facebook account, phone number added and verified, profile privacy set to "friends only", but I can't find myself in the leaks.

scrollaway 6y ago
My understanding of the dump is that it was scraped, thus it's non exhaustive by nature. There's only half a billion accounts in it after all, and Facebook has far more.

insiderreporter 6y ago

Mark Zuckerberg's phone number is there too.