While many users were recovering from the shock that Facebook was harvesting their phone numbers to make friend suggestions instead of of just using it for 2FA security, yet another big blow has come to the Factbook’s privacy and security standards. 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the US, 11 million on users in the UK, and 6 million on users in India. It includes their phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, and — in some cases — email addresses.
Some complications arising from this are Identity theft, loss of privacy, social engineering attempts to get more information, hacking attempts and could also compromise physical security of certain vulnerable users. It is time for a major review of security standards being followed my such “Free to Use” platforms that harvest user data for their financial gain, as this can easily become an international issue.
- Use a generic non-personal email id for all social media sites which is not linked to your personal emails so that way if you are hacked you dont lose any information
- Dont provide your date of birth to any “Free 2 Use” platforms
- Dont provide your phone numbers or address when not needed on social media platforms
- Dont share unwanted personal details including relations on social media sites just to get some likes or shares
- Create your own family, friends groups on platforms such as Signal or Telegram to collaborate and interact
- Subscribe to identity theft tracking services
Business Insider article: Facebook Data leak again