Facebook data scandal: what's going on?
from David Wurm 
on April 05, 2018, 18:07 p.m. | 1 comment
Last week we had the TechnikNews Weekly about the huge Data leak on Facebook reported at Cambridge Analytica. While "only" 50 million tapped user data were named at this point in time, according to current reports there are now a few more. In this article we also clarify some questions and provide clarity.
As Facebook now officially announces in a blog post, could now up to 87 million members from the data scandal on Facebook to be affected. Specifically, this is referred to as an external survey app. The developer of this app is said to have passed on survey information to the analysis company Cambridge Analytica. Thus, this app was able to gain a lot of information about Facebook members from 2014 to 2015 by linking it to the Facebook account. Not only the user himself is affected, but also all of his friends.
Jump to section
- 1 Facebook data scandal: what exactly happened?
- 2 Germany: Only 60 users are said to have participated in the survey
- 3 Extent greater than expected: Affected accounts known in numbers
- 4 Am I also affected?
- 5 Facebook had been aware of the data leak since 2015
- 6 Privacy advocates warn against Facebook
- 7 Facebook data scandal: what's next?
Facebook data scandal: what exactly happened?
The analysis company Cambridge Analytica had probably received data from an app developer hired by Cambridge Analytica some time ago. This app has been active on Facebook since 2014 - thanks to the earlier functionality of the Facebook API, you could get information about friends and their interests, likes and other data. Rumor has it that this data was probably used for Donald Trump's election campaign.
So that users could take part in the survey of the psychology app that was circulating on the web, the personal Facebook account had to be linked to the app. Thus, users are “to blame” - but the Facebook platform should never have passed on so much user data. Facebook banned this app from the platform in 2015 by its own account.
Germany: Only 60 users are said to have participated in the survey
According to information from Facebook, only 65 users in Germany took part in this survey of this psychology app. By passing on the data about friends through the Facebook platform, one should have come to almost 310 user data. Users from Germany who had friends from the USA or other other affected countries should also be taken into account here.
Extent greater than expected: Affected accounts known in numbers
These are the ten most affected countries in the data scandal. (Image: Facebook)
In addition, the blog post also lists official numbers of the users who are likely to be affected by this data leak. According to Facebook, the USA with over 1 million affected user accounts should be in first place in this ranking. In addition to the USA, around 70,6 thousand account information is said to have been passed on or even resold in Germany and around 310 thousand in Austria.
Am I also affected?
In order to make users aware of this data scandal on the platform itself, a banner will also be displayed in the app from April 9th. Here you will also be able to see whether your own account was affected in the past by transferring account data to Cambridge Analytica. Either because you logged in yourself or one of your friends logged into this app.
Finding a data abuse of your own account is currently neither in the Facebook app nor in the Web version of Facebook is possible.
Facebook had been aware of the data leak since 2015
But that's not enough: Like Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post on his Profil announces, the company had been aware of the Cambridge Analytica data leak since 2015. At that time, information from editors on The Guardian was leaked about the transfer of numerous user data to Cambridge Analytica through this app.
At that time, according to Zuckerberg, something was done immediately and this app was banned from the platform. "Cambridge Analytica at the time also assured that it had permanently deleted this data," said Zuckerberg. Legal action was initiated through the silent "discussion" with the analysis company - presumably to keep the ball flat.
In addition to some information about the situation, Zuckerberg's post gave no apology, be it from Facebook or himself.
Privacy advocates warn against Facebook
Numerous privacy advocates around the world are already turning red with anger towards Facebook. For example, the Hamburg data protection officer responsible for Facebook, Johannes Caspar, thinks: "To support its own business model, Facebook has allowed very extensive access for third-party apps to user data". "The Cambridge Analytica case should only be the tip of the iceberg here," said Caspar.
In addition to privacy advocates with deleted Facebook accounts, numerous users already have it Steps to delete the Facebook account undertaken. Companies like Tesla have already deleted the company page itself and all associated pages on Facebook. To the calls for the deletion of one's own Profils and the criticism surrounding the data scandal, Zuckerberg says: "I don't think there was a significant effect on Facebook." Company share things are not doing very well at the moment.
Facebook data scandal: what's next?
Despite the huge data leak, Facebook reacted quickly and made numerous changes to the platform for developers. Since 2014 it should no longer be possible to access data from Facebook friends so easily.
So far, the data of the members could also be misused through the search on Facebook. Until last week it was possible to find the user directly by entering the phone number or email address.
As mentioned above, starting next week, active information will start on Monday in the Facebook app. Here you should point out users who use the FacebookProfil linked to check apps and websites. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg will appear before the US Congress on April 11 and testify about the data scandal.
We will update this article continuously with further information.
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Facebook knew about the data theft since 2015? That and many other factors simply show that Zuck is simply unable to deal with Facebook.
Such a CEO who handles data in this way should definitely not exist in 2018. My FB account will be deleted (!) - not deactivated.
A secondary account is now being created to support our company website, under a secret name and without any information.