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Facebook Privacy

Mark Zuckerberg and the 2012 Facebook Moscow Hack 63

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: As Facebook's privacy debacle rages on, it's interesting to look back at Mark Zuckerberg's 2012 visit to the Facebook Moscow Hack (photos, video), at which Facebook provided training in how to access the data of app users' friends and awarded prizes for apps that did so.

In a 2012 video, Facebook's Simon Cross shows the Moscow crowd how they can "get a ton of other information" on Facebook users and their friends. "We now have an access token, so now let's make the same request again and see what happens," Cross explains (YouTube). "We've got a little bit more data, but now we can start doing really interesting stuff. We can get my friends. We can get some more information about one of my friends. Here's Connor, who you'll meet later. Say 'hello,' Connor. He's waving. And we can also get a ton of other information as well."

Cross, ironically, was the spokesperson Facebook later tapped in 2015 to explain to the press why giving friends' data to apps was a horrible idea that had to be curtailed lest Facebook lose its users' trust. Cross told reporters that Mark Zuckerberg said one of Facebook's new slogans was 'People First', because "if people don't feel comfortable using Facebook and specifically logging in Facebook and using Facebook in apps, we don't have a platform, we don't have developers."
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Mark Zuckerberg and the 2012 Facebook Moscow Hack

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  • Faux outrage (Score:2, Insightful)

    This "outrage" is completely fake. You GAVE Facebook that information on yourself. I am more concerned about data gathering by organizations where I didn't willingly give consent. There are companies out there that have a complete profile of you, your finances, everything, married from different sources. Facebook has just junk information collected to sell your ads. That should be the least of your worries.
    • by Anonymous Coward

      So if I don't use the app and my friend has me as a contact but does and my phone number is scraped did I give that information to facebook?

      • Your phone number? Your email address? Who cares? Companies like Acxiom have much much more than your friggen phone number.
    • by Anonymous Coward

      Uhm, isn't that the point. Facebook doesn't just gather information that they have been given. They work with other companies to track and gather all the rest based on the information you have given them. The point of this is that apps were given access to your friend's data even if your friends/family don't even have a Facebook account. Ever wonder why stores all suddenly started asking for your phone number and email address... they would correlate it with Facebook's data and trade it.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You GAVE Facebook that information on yourself.

      For people who signed up for FB, yes, I agree. And they are fucking idiots, the lot. However, the problem is those idiots give FB information on their friends who never signed up for FB, so you can't totally stay out of their clutches.

      • "You GAVE Facebook that information on yourself.

        For people who signed up for FB, yes, I agree. And they are fucking idiots, the lot. However, the problem is those idiots give FB information on their friends who never signed up for FB, so you can't totally stay out of their clutches."

        I disagree on both counts. Non-technical people can't be expected to know the ramifications of putting their information on Facebook. Even among those who know it's going to be used for targeted advertising, the many other ways

    • Re:Faux outrage (Score:5, Insightful)

      by CaptainDork ( 3678879 ) on Saturday June 09, 2018 @10:36PM (#56758164)

      I am more concerned about data gathering by organizations where I didn't willingly give consent.

      Guess who does that? Facebook.

      Data miners dig into your Facebook shit, via API, and you're screwed.

      By Facebook.

      • Forget Facebook. They are the least of what you should be worried about. If you don't have a Facebook account their information on your is very limited. However, Acxiom has a LOT more information on you.
        • I agree with the direction you're taking this.

          Twitter, Google (all their shit), Apple (all their shit), Instagram, Snapchat, every goddam web page ...

          We're so screwed and there's absolutely no turning back.

    • Re:Faux outrage (Score:5, Insightful)

      by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 ) on Saturday June 09, 2018 @11:24PM (#56758306)

      You GAVE Facebook that information on yourself

      They weren't supposed to share that data. If my doctor goes around telling people that I have herpes I'm going to get mad at my doctor.

      If my doctor says you GAVE me that information, I'm still going to be mad at him.

      And if he tells me one of my dumb friends consented to sharing his information and that included my information, I'm still going to be mad at him, and I'm also going to be mad at my dumb friend.

      • Exactly this.

      • by tsa ( 15680 )

        Yep.

        But FB and the like have nothing to fear from the American government, so they will keep doing it, say that they are very sorry and continue doing it. Maybe they get a fine from the EU but those are low compared to what they earn selling your data, so they say sorry again and continue.

        The only thing that can stop them is strict legislation.

        • But, it would seem the US gov't (aside from a few select senators like Wyden) love the surveillance state. FB is a win-win-win for them

          They get:
          outsourced intelligence gathering - for free!
          whatever corporate income tax FB isn't able to weasel/zuck their way out of
          plausible deniability in terms of data gathering -- especially relative to collection on US citizens.

          All they need to be able to do is turn the screws a little to extract whatever they want from FB/Google et al. Though they might pay a tiny amount

      • Are you trying to compare doctor-patient confidentiality with giving information to facebook? Who says they weren't supposed to share the the data? Facebook sure as shit didn't.
    • by jwymanm ( 627857 )
      +1 million. I almost think this outrage is actually governments just wanting to find a way to pass stricter laws against freedom so only the big corps can still contend while little companies go out of business trying to compete without billions of dollars. Nobody cares about pete's friend paul being known to XYZ company. Nobody. This is some bullshit crap to pass something none of us know of or to draw away eyes at something being passed that is worse than what these companies do.
    • by Rob Y. ( 110975 )

      It's not that they gave away the info you gave them that's the problem (though they did promise that they wouldn't give some of it away - and apparently broke that promise). But the thing about Facebook that's seriously scary is that they allowed 3rd parties to produce their own targeted advertising based on your public and private info. And alowed them to perpetrate fraud in the process.

      I'm fine with Facebook aggregating me and targeting ads to maximize their 'effectiveness' and profitability. I'm not f

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Just do it already.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Everyone should stop using Facebook and the govt should make their business model illegal.

    If we really need such a service, then we need to decentralize it and some entity (internaltional?) can control the bits that must be centralized for it to function. And do it in a non-profit way.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday June 10, 2018 @06:55AM (#56759284)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • "If modern America is anything, it's an indictment of the very idea of democracy itself"

      It would have to be a democracy for that. It ain't. It's an oligarchy and always has been, by design. Just like in Athens, the vote was originally preserved for white male landowners. Now the only meaningful votes are done with dollars, and the evil have all the cash.

    • The US isn't a democracy, it's a republic. The electoral college failed us.
  • "if people don't feel comfortable using Facebook and specifically logging in Facebook and using Facebook in apps, we don't have a platform, we don't have developers."

    Hmmm...so if people just stopped using facecrook, en masse, this would send a message. Gosh, that's a novel concept!
    Sadly, we live in the land where perception outweighs fact...and where want is automatically conflated with absolute NEEEEED. Hence companies doing whatever they wish and people believe themselves utterly powerless to stop it. Ma

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