Facebook Should be Protecting their Users Data

Over the weekend, 533 million Facebook user’s data has surfaced online for free. The data that was leaked includes the users phone number, Facebook ID, full names, locations, birthdays, bios, and email addresses. This data was discovered in 2019, which was fixed in August 2019, but the data has once again surfaced on the internet, allowing hackers to get information of these users.

As a Facebook user myself, I am unsettled that this type of data has resurfaced and even got out in the first place. Facebook should have made sure that their security on their website was strong and that data would not be able to be leaked. Once Facebook heard of the issue and realized what had happened, they worked quickly to fix the issue. However, it obviously was not fast enough and now their users are suffering the consequences.

 

Facebook should not have user’s data open to the public. People trust Facebook when signing up, which is why some people put a lot of their information into Facebook. Although users should be careful about giving any company too much of their information, most people feel secure since Facebook is a widely established and reputable platform. When data is leaked like this, most people still turn a blind eye because they do not understand the seriousness of what data is being exposed. Facebook should definitely be more vigilant in securing their users data and making sure it cannot be leaked. Even though this happened in 2019, it is now becoming a problem 2 years later, which shows that one mistake and data leak will never really just go away. 

 

The 553 million users whose data was leaked now have to worry about their security and privacy. Hackers who have a lot of information about people can try to steal their identity or use the information they have to get even more information about the person, such as medical records or bank information. This can lead to harmful effects for the person who is being hacked. In some cases, the person may not even be aware that their data was leaked, so this could cause even further problems because they won’t be able to stop it until it may be too late, and it would be much more difficult to fix the issue by the time they became aware of it. 

 

According to RD.com, hackers can really create an issue in someone’s life simply by just knowing their phone number. Some of the ways they can do that is through making their phone number route to their personal phone, making spam calls with your phone number, and sending you scam text messages to infect your phone. Most of the 553 million user’s data included their phone number getting leaked. This shows how one piece of data can really cause a disruption in their lives and how Facebook should have been protecting them so this would not be able to happen.

 

Source: 

https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-data-of-533-million-facebook-users-leaked-online-2021-4?op=1&scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4

https://www.rd.com/article/things-hackers-can-do-with-just-your-cell-phone-number/