Facebook Caught Exposing Millions of Credentials 159
fysdt writes "Facebook has leaked photographs, profiles and other personal information for millions of its users because of a years-old bug that overrides individual privacy settings, researchers from Symantec said. The flaw, which the researchers estimate has affected hundreds of thousands of applications, exposed user access tokens to advertisers and others. The tokens serve as a spare set of keys that Facebook apps use to perform certain actions on behalf of the user, such as posting messages to a Facebook wall or sending RSVP replies to invitations. For years, many apps that rely on an older form of user authentication turned over these keys to third parties, giving them the ability to access information users specifically designated as off limits."
Meh.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Dog Bites Man, News at Eleven. (Score:5, Insightful)
Somebody needs to take a refresher course in "What is this 'news" thing, anyway?" Something that happens with utter predictability and regularity, like a dog biting a man, is never really news. But if a man were to bite a dog, or Facebook was caught protecting user information, then that would be news.
Re:They're still operating ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I find this wrong (obviously), but at least in my personal case, I assume that everything I ever put on FB is there for the entire world to see, regardless of my own privacy settings.
I care about my privacy...I just don't see Facebook as even remotely "private"
Re:Meh.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Treat it as if it is a giant billboard hovering above the earth that every single human being on the planet can see and read.
I use FB to keep up with a large number of poeple scattered around the globe that I gave a shit about. It is a casual way to be a part of the life of people I care about that I can't be close to.
I don't post pictures, play games, use apps, say stupid shit about my boss/employer, etc. People that do deserve to have their personal shit posted around the globe.
Re:They're still operating ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Until people get bitten by personal information being leaked to the wrong people, they will not care about their privacy. If your private photos get leaked to your employer and there are allusions or consequences that embarrass you, you might get mad enough about it to stop using the service. If they get leaked to faceless corporations that will crunch the data to suck as much money as possible out of you and your friends with targeted advertising, the connection is fuzzy, remote, indirect, and it is unlikely you will care at all. For 99.99% of people, the lack of privacy will have no effect they can relate to their use of the service. The remainder might get into trouble, but 0.01% of users has no pull. And if the whole of society was to get into trouble because of things like this getting out of hand, the responsibility will be diluted among everyone - ergo, still, nobody cares.
In short, people care about their privacy versus the core of people they interact with or might interact with in the future. Outside of that core, their information might be distributed on flyers in the streets of Bangkok for all they care. At best they will be momentarily disturbed by the thought.