There's Another Facebook Phone Number Database Online (vice.com) 7
An online tool lets customers pay to unmask the phone numbers of Facebook users that liked a specific Page, and the underlying dataset appears to be separate from the 500 million account database that made headlines last week, signifying another data breach or large scale scraping of Facebook users' data, Motherboard reports. From the report: Motherboard verified the tool, which comes in the form of a bot on the social network and messaging platform Telegram, outputs accurate phone numbers of Facebook users that aren't included in the dataset of 500 million users. The data also appears to be different to another Telegram bot outputting Facebook phone numbers that Motherboard first reported on in January. "Hello, can you tell me how you got my number?" one person included in the dataset asked Motherboard when reached for comment. "Omg, this is insane," they added. Another person returned Motherboard's call and, after confirming their name, said "If you have my number then yes it seems the data is accurate."
A description for the bot reads "The bot give [sic] out the phone numbers of users who have liked the Facebook page." To use the bot, customers need to first identify the unique identification code of the Facebook Page they want to get phone numbers from, be that a band, restaurant, or any other sort of Page. This is possible with at least one free to use website. From there, customers enter that code into the bot, which provides a cost of the data in U.S. dollars and the option to proceed with the purchase, according to Motherboard's tests. A Page with tens of thousands of likes from Facebook users can cost a few hundred dollars, the bot shows. The data for Motherboard's own Page would return 134,803 results and cost $539, for example.
A description for the bot reads "The bot give [sic] out the phone numbers of users who have liked the Facebook page." To use the bot, customers need to first identify the unique identification code of the Facebook Page they want to get phone numbers from, be that a band, restaurant, or any other sort of Page. This is possible with at least one free to use website. From there, customers enter that code into the bot, which provides a cost of the data in U.S. dollars and the option to proceed with the purchase, according to Motherboard's tests. A Page with tens of thousands of likes from Facebook users can cost a few hundred dollars, the bot shows. The data for Motherboard's own Page would return 134,803 results and cost $539, for example.
Mark, Mark, Mark... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
"I am fine with this"
So there are people that still (Score:3)
Re:So there are people that still (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that the problem is that people, in general, don't feel pain from this. They have a vague and abstract understanding that this is going on, but since they don't have any immediate, in-their-faces suffering that they are experiencing because of this, they just completely ignore it.
Social media, specifically Facebook, is carefully engineered to keep people addicted. Addiction is a powerful motivator! They keep coming back for more despite the harm it is causing, because they don't really notice it. Or even if they are directly suffering depression because of it, they can't quite mentally connect the dots and break the cycle.
Critical thinking and self-discipline can really do wonders for a person's mental health and overall success in life. But these things take work to cultivate, and Facebook delivers immediate dopamine payoffs with just a click of the mouse. Critical thinking and self-discipline are a pretty hard sell, by comparison.
Re: (Score:1)
What I find fascinating is the 50+ group in ex-soviet block countries. They too are heavy users. 30 years ago they were terrified one line in a secret file on them could defeat all their attempts at a good life, yet now they surrender everything willingly. Somehow the idea of a power structure using all this info in the future doesn't ring any alarm bells.
These are people that objectively know what pain might come out of it. But they just don't care (even when they understand).
I guess Mark was right. (parap
No surpise there's no uproar (Score:2)