Facebook updated its Terms of Service to no longer allow users to delete their data when they delete or deactivate their account. Erick Schonfeld, Zuckerberg On Who owns User Data On Facebook: It's Complicated, TechCrunch (Feb. 16, 2009), https://techcrunch.com/2009/02/16/zuckerberg-on-who-owns-user-data-on-facebook-its-complicated-2.
In order to settle a federal class action lawsuit, Facebook agrees to shut down its Beacon tracking program. In addition to shutting down Beacon, a program that monitored and published what users were doing on other sites, Facebook also set aside $9.5 million to fund a non-profit that will support online privacy, safety, and security. Jon Brodkin, Facebook Halts Beacon, Gives $9.5M to Settle Lawsuit, PCWorld (Dec. 8, 2009), https://www.pcworld.com/article/184029/facebook_halts_beacon_gives_9_5_million_to_settle_lawsuit.html; Ryan Singel, Facebook Beacon Tracking Program Draws Privacy Lawsuit, Wired (Aug. 14, 2008), https://www.wired.com/2008/08/facebook-beacon/.
Some of Facebook's most popular apps including Farmville and Mafia Wars were taking in user information. They then used this information to create profiles on the users including websites other than Facebook that the user visited. These profiles were then used to target advertising. Geoffrey A. Fowler, More Questions for Facebook, The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 18, 2010), https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304410504575560640816473962; Becky Worley, Facebook: Another Privacy Scandal, abc News (Oct. 18, 2010), https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/facebook-privacy-scandal-facebooks-watergate/story?id=11912201.
Facebook conducted a mood manipulation experiment on its users without their knowledge or consent. For one week in January, Facebook showed some users only positive posts or only negative posts in an effort to see how it affected their moods. 689,003 users were affected by the experiment. Kashmir Hill, Facebook Manipulated 689,003 Users' Emotions For Science, Forbes (Jan. 28, 2014), https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/06/28/facebook-manipulated-689003-users-emotions-for-science/#474b1bc8197c.
The FTC settles with Facebook over the charges that Facebook lied to users by telling them they could keep their information private. As a part of the settlement, Facebook must obtain users' consent before sharing their information beyond the users' established privacy settings. FTC Approves Final Settlement With Facebook, Federal Trade Commission (Aug. 10, 2012), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/ftc-approves-final-settlement-facebook.
As early as 2012, Facebook privacy policy allowed them to collect users' names, ages, genders, email addresses, networks, photos and videos, tags and facial data, profiles viewed, who they talk with over Messenger, relationship statuses, likes, lists of favorite things, political affiliations, what websites are visited and when, anything purchased with Facebook Credits, browser types used, operating systems used, IP addresses, GPS locations, user ID numbers, and usernames. Andrew Couts, Terms & Conditions: Facebook's 'Data Use Policy' explained, Digital Trends (Aug. 26, 2012), https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/terms-conditions-facebooks-data-use-policy-explained/.
Over the past year, Facebook exposed 6 million users' email addresses and phone numbers. Due to a glitch, Facebook allowed anyone who wanted to download contact data for their list of friends to also access email addresses and phone numbers that they otherwise should not have had access to. Gerry Shih, Facebook admits year-long data breach exposed 6 million users, Reuters (Jun. 21, 2013), https://www.reuters.com/article/net-us-facebook-security/facebook-admits-year-long-data-breach-exposed-6-million-users-idUSBRE95K18Y20130621.
The 4th Circuit ruled that Facebook likes are Constitutionally protected free speech. Bland v. Roberts, 730 F.3d 368 (4th Cir. 2013).
Security researchers discover 318,000 Facebook account credentials on a server in the Netherlands. The data breach is believed to be the result of keylogging software. Jose Pagliery, 2 million Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack, CNN (Dec. 4, 2013), https://money.cnn.com/2013/12/04/technology/security/passwords-stolen/.
Facebook takes its first steps to fight fake news on its site. Users can now report an article as fake news, and, in the future, if someone tries to share it they will be notified that the article has been flagged as false. Facebook will not delete or fact-check reported content. Laura Stampler, Facebook's Going to Start Weeding Out Fake News Stories, Time (Jan. 20, 2015),https://time.com/3675115/facebook-fake-news/.
“Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, of which it’s a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea” - Mark Zuckerberg John Mannes, Zuckerberg denies Facebook News Feed bubble impacted the election, Tech Crunch (Nov. 10, 2016), https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/10/zuck-denies-facebook-news-feed-bubble-impacted-the-election/.
It is seen in Facebook's terms of service that, while Facebook does not own the photos you post, it has a right to use them without paying the user or even asking permission. Facebook also has the right to transfer those rights to other entities. Harry Guinness, Does Facebook Own My Photos? How-To Geek (Apr. 25, 2017), https://www.howtogeek.com/304037/does-facebook-own-my-photos/.
Facebook's secret censorship rules were leaked and found to protect elites over activists or minorities, at least in some instances. Julia Angwin and Hannes Grassegger, Facebbok's Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children, ProPublica (Jun. 28, 2017), https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-hate-speech-censorship-internal-documents-algorithms.
Israeli surveillance entity NSO Group was approached by Facebook in an effort to purchase the right to use Pegasus, a spyware developed by NSO Group to collect information from iOS devices using WhatsApp. Devin Coldewey, Before suing NSO Group, Facebook allegedy sought their software to better spy on users, TechCrunch (Apr. 3, 2020), https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/03/before-suing-nso-group-facebook-allegedly-sought-their-software-to-better-spy-on-users/.
Facebook estimates that 80,000 pieces of content created by Russia were viewed by 126 million users ahead of the 2016 Presidential election. Devin Coldewey, Russian-backed content may have reached 126 million on Facebook, TechCrunch (Oct. 30, 2017), https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/30/russian-backed-content-may-have-reached-126-million-on-facebook/.
Data firm Cambridge Analytica collected the data of 87 million users without their consent. This data was then used for various purposes, including political advertising, and was used in Ted Cruz's presidential campaign, Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and the Brexit campaign. Mike Butcher, Cambridge Analytica email chain with Facebook sheds new light on data misuse scandal, TechCrunch (Jan. 17, 2020), https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/17/cambridge-analytica-whistleblower-reveals-new-documents-showing-how-facebook-handled-the-data-misuse-scandal/; Zack Whittaker, Facebook: Cambridge Analytica took a lot more data than first thought, ZDNet (Apr. 4, 2018), https://www.zdnet.com/article/facebook-confirms-cambridge-analytica-took-more-data-than-first-thought/; Nicole Nguyen, Here's How Facebook Got Into This Mess: A Timeline, BuzzFeed News (Mar. 21, 2018), https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/cambridge-analytica-facebook-timeline.
It is discovered that Facebook has been collecting call records and SMS data from Android phones for years. This collection occurred without a permissions screen ever being seen by the user. Russell Brandom, Facebook knew Android call-scraping would be 'high-risk,' new documents revealt, The Verge (Dec. 5, 2018), https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18127216/facebook-android-call-scraping-high-risk-emails-uk-parliament; Tom Warren, Facebook has been collecting call history and SMS data from Android devices, The Verge (Mar. 25, 2018), https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/25/17160944/facebook-call-history-sms-data-collection-android.
Former FTC officials say that Facebook seem to have violated a 2011 consent decree. This decree mandated that Facebook safeguard users' personal information. Bloomberg, Facebook May Have Breached a 2011 Consent Agreement, FTC Says, Fortune (Mar. 29, 2018), https://fortune.com/2018/03/29/cambridge-analytica-facebook-scandal/.
Facebook bans white supremacy on its site, but training manuals reveal that it does not ban white separatism or white nationalism. Joseph Cox, These Are Facebook's Policies for Moderating White Supremacy and Hate, Vice (May 29, 2018),https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbk7ky/leaked-facebook-neo-nazi-policies-white-supremacy-nationalism-separatism.
In an effort to fight fake news, Facebook assigns users fake news flagging trustworthiness scores. These scores are used to weigh how Facebook should consider the user's reports. John Constine, Facebook assigns you a fake-news-flagging trustworthiness score, TechCrunch (Aug. 21, 2018), https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/21/facebook-score/.
30 million Facebook users had their data exposed in a breach. 14 million of those had sensitive information accessed, such as their username and recent Facebook searches. The rest had their names, email addresses, and phone numbers stolen. 1 million of those affected had no information stolen. Allen St. John, Facebook Breach Exposed Personal Data of Millions of Users, Consumer Reports (Oct. 12, 2018), https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-security/facebook-data-breach-exposed-personal-data-of-millions-of-users/.
It is discovered that Facebook employed Definers Public Affairs to promote negative stories about its rivals. Evan Osnos, FACEBOOK AND THE AGE OF MANIPULATION, The New Yorker (Nov. 16, 2018), https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/facebook-and-the-age-of-manipulation.
Facebook now bans white nationalism and white separatism. Previously, it had only banned white supremacy. Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler, Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism, Vice (Mar. 27, 2019), https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nexpbx/facebook-bans-white-nationalism-and-white-separatism.
FTC records disclosed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center show that the FTC received over 26,000 complaints about Facebook's privacy violations since 2012. Emily Birnbaum, FTC has received 26,000 complaints about Facebook privacy violations since 2012, The Hill (Apr. 4, 2019), https://thehill.com/policy/technology/437367-ftc-has-received-26000-complaints-about-facebook-privacy-violations-since; Enid Zhou, EPIC FOIA, https://epic.org/foia/ftc/facebook/EPIC-19-03-13-FTC-FOIA-20190402-Complaint-Number-Breakdown.pdf.
Two different sets of Facebook user data were posted publicly on Amazon cloud servers. All in all, 540 million Facebook users had their data, including passwords, potentially exposed. The user data came from app developers: Cultura Colectiva and At the Pool. April Glaser, Another 540 Million Facebook Users' Data Has Been Exposed, Slate (Apr. 3, 2019), https://slate.com/technology/2019/04/facebook-data-breach-540-million-users-privacy.html.
Facebook faces a class action lawsuit in Canada after facilitating discrimination in advertising for jobs and housing. Factors used to discriminate included age and gender. Elizabeth Thompson, Facebook faces possible class action lawsuit over job ads, CBC (Apr. 11, 2019), https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/facebook-job-ads-class-action-1.5094661.
Due to violating a 2012 FTC order, Facebook is required to pay a $5 billion settlement to the FTC - the largest of any company to date. Facebook violated the 2012 order by repeatedly lied to its users about the extent to which they could control the privacy of their data. Lesley Fair, FTC's $5 billion Facebook settlement: Record-breaking and history-making, Federal Trade Commission (Jul. 24, 2019), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2019/07/ftcs-5-billion-facebook-settlement-record-breaking-history.
As a part of an FTC settlement, Facebook agrees to stop using phone numbers provided for security purposes, such as 2-factor-authentification, to target ads. Gennie Gebhart, Fixed? The FTC Orders Facebook to Stop Using Your 2FA Number for Ads, Electronic Frontier Foundation (Jul. 25, 2019), https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/fixed-ftc-orders-facebook-stop-using-your-2fa-number-ads.
The director of the AARP's Fraud Victim Support Network reports that Facebook scams are being reported to AARP's fraud help line at higher rates than ever before. Aaron Kassraie, Facebook Messenger Scam: Fake Friend, Real Money, AARP (Aug. 23, 2019), https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/facebook-messenger.html.
Facebook expands its definition of terror organizations to include white nationalists after the shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand. After this definitional expansion, it banned over 200 white supremacist groups. Matt Binder, Facebook bans more than 200 white supremacist groups, updates terrorism definition, Mashable (Sep. 17, 2019), https://mashable.com/article/facebook-hate-extremism-policy-define-terrorism/.
Facebook announces a board of 40 members it will use in determining what to do about posts that Facebook has censored. Daphne Keller, Facebook Restricts Free Speech by Popular Demand, The Atlantic (Sep. 22, 2019), https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/facebook-restricts-free-speech-popular-demand/598462/.
The Oxford Internet Institute conducted a study that shows social media manipulation is now a global problem that is only getting worse. Part of the study showed organized political disinformation campaigns were taking place in 56 countries on Facebook. Natasha Lomas, Voter manipulation on social media now a global problem, report finds, TechCrunch (Sep. 26, 2019),https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/26/voter-manipulation-on-social-media-now-a-global-problem-report-finds/.
It is reported that hackers are targeting Faecbook users with credit cards linked to their account in order to purchase ad campaigns. Alfred Ng, Your hacked Facebook account may be bankrolling scam ad campaigns, CNET (Nov. 4, 2019), https://www.cnet.com/news/your-hacked-facebook-account-may-be-bankrolling-scam-ad-campaigns/.
Facebook plans to increase transparency on its site such as showing more information about the confirmed owner of Facebook pages and more prominently labeling content marked false by independent fact checkers. However, political ads will not be fact-checked. Elizabeth Culliford, Facebook announces steps to clamp down on misinformation ahead of 2020 election, Reuters (Oct. 21, 2019), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-facebook/facebook-announces-steps-to-clamp-down-on-misinformation-ahead-of-2020-election-idUSKBN1X022S.
WhatsApp files suit in California against NSO Group, alleging NSO hacked WhatsApp servers to place its Pegasus spyware to hack over 1,000 users. NSO Group lawsuit (re hacking WhatsApp users), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (Oct. 29, 2019), https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/nso-group-lawsuit-re-hacking-whatsapp-users/.
The Guardian identified several white nationalist pages to Facebook. Facebook did not take them down. Julia Carrie Wong, White nationalists are openly operating on Facebook. The company won't act, The Guardian (Nov. 21, 2019), https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/21/facebook-white-nationalists-ban-vdare-red-ice.
Hundreds of users inadvertently gave access to their data by using third-party apps. The information exposed included usernames, email addresses, and recent posts. This breach affected Android users who were using the apps Giant Square or Photofy. Hundreds of Users Impacted in Twitter and Facebook Data Breach, CISO MAG (Nov. 26, 2019), https://www.cisomag.com/hundreds-of-users-impacted-in-twitter-and-facebook-data-breach/.
A blogger posted about the arrest of a whisteblower and supposed election rigging in Singapore. The blogger was not from Singapore. Singapore claims the accusations are false, and instructed Facebook to take them down in order to comply with its fake news law. Facebook did not comply with the demand. Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law, CNBC (Nov. 28, 2019), https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/29/singapore-tells-facebook-to-correct-post-under-new-fake-news-law.html.
Facebook sued ILikeAd, based out of Hong Kong, alleging that the company used malware to trick people into clicking their links. The actions of ILikeAd allegedly violated Facebook's terms of service and advertising policies. Jonathan Stempel, Facebook sues ILikeAd, alleges ad fraud, Reuters (Dec. 5, 2019), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ilikead-lawsuit/facebook-sues-ilikead-alleges-ad-fraud-idUSKBN1Y92IR.
A study conducted by NATO found that social media companies, including Facebook, are failing to stop manipulated activity on their sites. Associated Press, Social media giants are failing to stop manipulation, NATO researchers find, Los Angeles Times (Dec. 6, 2019), https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-12-06/social-media-manipulation-nato-research.
267 million Facebook users have their contact information leaked after Facebook left a database with their personal information on the internet for almost two weeks. This information included users' names, phone numbers, and Facebook IDs. Queenie Wong, Millions of Facebook user phone numbers exposed online, security researchers say, CNET (Dec. 19, 2019), https://www.cnet.com/news/millions-of-facebook-user-phone-numbers-exposed-online-security-researchers-say/; Mike Moore, Facebook data breach sees millions of user personal details leaked online, TechRadar (Dec. 24, 2019), https://www.techradar.com/news/millions-of-facebook-user-phone-numbers-leaked-online.
In an effort to fight disinformation on its platform, Facebook banned Deepfake videos. Catherine Thorbecke, Facebook's ban on deepfakes a 'baby step' but won't eliminate disinformation, experts say, abc News (Jan. 7, 2020), https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/facebooks-ban-deepfakes-baby-step-eliminate-disinformation-experts/story?id=68116070.
Facebook, Reddit, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube issued a joint statement on Coronavirus misinformation. "We are working closely together on COVID-19 response efforts. We're helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing critical updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world. We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe." Catherine Shu and Jonathan Shieber, Facebook, Reddit, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube issue joint statement on misinformation, TechCrunch (Mar. 16, 2020), https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/16/facebook-reddit-google-linkedin-microsoft-twitter-and-youtube-issue-joint-statement-on-misinformation/.
One of Facebook's ad targeting categories is people who are interested in pseudoscience. The ad category contains 78 million users. It is unknown how many advertisers have used this category, as Facebook does not disclose what groups are targeted by the ads on its site. There is a large overlap between those who are targeted by this category and those who are spreading and/or believing misinformation about Coronavirus. Aaron Sankin, Want to Find a Misinformed Public? Facebook's Already Done It, The Markup (Apr. 23, 2020),https://themarkup.org/coronavirus/2020/04/23/want-to-find-a-misinformed-public-facebooks-already-done-it.
Germany's top court ruled Facebook "abused its dominance in social media to illegally harvest data about its users." The Court held Facebook did this by combining user data it collected across different platforms, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. Now, Facebook must change how it processes data about its users in Germany. Adam Satariano, Facebook Loses Antitrust Decision in Germany Over Data Collection, New York Times (June 23, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/technology/facebook-antitrust-germany.html.
After NSO Group filed a motion to dismiss, a court for the Northern District of California decided that WhatsApp and Facebook's case against NSO Group may proceed, dismissing NSO Group's arguments. Catherine Shu, Federal court rules WhatsApp and Facebook's malware exploit case against NSO Group can proceed, TechCrunch (July 16, 2020), https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/16/federal-court-rules-whatsapp-and-facebooks-malware-exploit-case-against-nso-group-can-proceed/.
Facebook settles a case against it for violating Illinois's state facial recognition law. As a part of the settlement, Facebook agrees to pay $650 million to Illinois users, amounting to $200-$400 per user. Sara Morrison, Facebook's sad summer continues with a $650 million settlement, Vox (July 23m 2020), https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/23/21335806/facebook-settlement-illinois-facial-recognition-photo-tagging.
Facebook took down 1.3 billion fake accounts between October and December, 2020. Facebook says took down 1.3 billion fake account in Oct-Dec, Reuters (Mar. 22, 2021), https://www.reuters.com/article/facebook-misinformation-int/facebook-says-took-down-1-3-billion-fake-accounts-in-oct-dec-idUSKBN2BE12M.
After previously failing to adequately take down QAnon pages, Facebook declares it will take a more active approach on finding and deleting the communities. N.Y. Times found that, since making the announcement, Facebook had already taken down 100 groups and pages with tens of thousands of followers. Sheera Frenkel, Facebook Amps Up Its Crackdown on QAnon, N.Y. Times (Oct. 6, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/technology/facebook-qanon-crackdown.html.
Facebook begins banning posts that deny the Holocaust occurred. It still allows posts claiming any other genocides, such as the Armenian or Rwandan genocides, did not occur. Sarah Frier, Facebook to Ban Posts That Deny Holocaust, Reversing Policy, Bloomberg (Oct. 12, 2020), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-12/facebook-to-ban-posts-that-deny-holocaust-in-reversal-of-policy.
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