Massive data breach at Facebook

[Red Squirrel]

Massive leak leaves 267 million Facebook users' data exposed

Security researchers found an online database containing the private information of over 267 million Facebook users exposed on the internet. It contained the Facebook IDs, phone numbers, and real names of the users.

www.androidcentral.com

What you need to know

    A massive data leak affecting 267 million Facebook users was publicized this week.
    The database was exposed on the internet and accessible without any authentication or password requirements.
    It contained users' IDs, phone numbers, and real names.

They don't mention passwords being part of the leak but probably good idea to change anyway and change on any site where you use the same password just in case.

 

[mxnerd]

Facebook can't be trusted anymore, it happens too many times.

Luckily I don't have any social accounts. If I'm getting one in the future, I will never use real name.

 

[mindless1]

Meh, I always felt like if you give that data to a site like Facebook, you wanted EVERYONE to have it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

There's a difference between GIVING data (Ex: posting stuff) and them spying on all your activity even outside of their own site. If I post stuff then yeah I assume it's public, but if I search for something on another site or simply browse another site, I don't want them accessing that, but they do. Or worse, physical spying, such as using the mic and other sensors on your phone. Pretty sure Google does this, then sells the info. So often do I find ads show up based on conversations I had IRL.

 

[mindless1]

I assume they're going to rape me blind if I give them anything.

It's always a trade off , convenience versus privacy.

I am not worried about my phone. I am not worried about targeted advertising. The problem there is seeing any ads at all. If they got through my gauntlet, the ads might as well be something relevant, then I nuke that new ad, however they managed to deliver it.

It will never be an absolute fix, that is their purpose and they'll find a way. It's up to you, annoyance vs effort.

 

[Rifter]

At this point anyone who uses their real name on Facebook deserves getting there identity stolen. So many breaches over last few years.

 

[killster1]

There's a difference between GIVING data (Ex: posting stuff) and them spying on all your activity even outside of their own site. If I post stuff then yeah I assume it's public, but if I search for something on another site or simply browse another site, I don't want them accessing that, but they do. Or worse, physical spying, such as using the mic and other sensors on your phone. Pretty sure Google does this, then sells the info. So often do I find ads show up based on conversations I had IRL.

you really think google is listening to you via your phones microphone? thats super creepy and i have heard others say itin the past but for me nah just ads based on my searches. i usually use duckduckgo browser or google in incognito. i dont give any permissions to my microphone, android 10 has been annoying lately with vlc crashes but im going to uninstall / reinstall it later to see if that helps.

 

[Red Squirrel]

you really think google is listening to you via your phones microphone? thats super creepy and i have heard others say itin the past but for me nah just ads based on my searches. i usually use duckduckgo browser or google in incognito. i dont give any permissions to my microphone, android 10 has been annoying lately with vlc crashes but im going to uninstall / reinstall it later to see if that helps.

Almost positive. I use ddg too and other security measures yet I still see ads targetted to me based on IRL conversations. For example one time at work I casually mentioned it would be cool to climb a cell tower, I had just got off a call (on office phone) about a burnt tower light. I open my phone and first ad I see is a job opening for the company we contract out to climb cell towers. I've seen other weird coincidences like that too. Like my power went out, and I check FB on my phone to see if anyone posted anything and first ad I get is for home standby generators. I get this quite a lot. I think Google sells info to FB, and probably to other companies, and vise versa. There's no laws against selling our info, so if there is money to be made it is being done.

 

[killster1]

Almost positive. I use ddg too and other security measures yet I still see ads targetted to me based on IRL conversations. For example one time at work I casually mentioned it would be cool to climb a cell tower, I had just got off a call (on office phone) about a burnt tower light. I open my phone and first ad I see is a job opening for the company we contract out to climb cell towers. I've seen other weird coincidences like that too. Like my power went out, and I check FB on my phone to see if anyone posted anything and first ad I get is for home standby generators. I get this quite a lot. I think Google sells info to FB, and probably to other companies, and vise versa. There's no laws against selling our info, so if there is money to be made it is being done.

maybe you are pranking me! how could they be doing this with out using massive amounts of data and connections?

Are smartphones listening and targeting us with ads?

We put it to the test to see why we might be getting online ads for things we never searched for

www.cbsnews.com

i wish google listened and stopped bad people from doing bad things but nah it isnt happening imo

 

[mxnerd]

Almost positive. I use ddg too and other security measures yet I still see ads targetted to me based on IRL conversations. For example one time at work I casually mentioned it would be cool to climb a cell tower, I had just got off a call (on office phone) about a burnt tower light. I open my phone and first ad I see is a job opening for the company we contract out to climb cell towers. I've seen other weird coincidences like that too. Like my power went out, and I check FB on my phone to see if anyone posted anything and first ad I get is for home standby generators. I get this quite a lot. I think Google sells info to FB, and probably to other companies, and vise versa. There's no laws against selling our info, so if there is money to be made it is being done.

Really? If that's true, why wouldn't Google be sued by people yet? What you described is really beyond my comprehension.

You probably have installed some malicious Android APP which records what you said and then send to ads company. Google is not going to do something like that, unless you have Google Assistant activated all the time, then something you described probably could happen.

 

[Ichinisan]

Really? If that's true, why wouldn't Google be sued by people yet? What you described is really beyond my comprehension.

You probably have installed some malicious Android APP which records what you said and then send to ads company. Google is not going to do something like that, unless you have Google Assistant activated all the time, then something you describe probably could happen.

More likely every coincidence serves to confirm a bias toward a pre-conceived conclusion.

 

[sandorski]

All those Usernames/Password accumulated over the years, all for naught.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Really? If that's true, why wouldn't Google be sued by people yet? What you described is really beyond my comprehension.

You probably have installed some malicious Android APP which records what you said and then send to ads company. Google is not going to do something like that, unless you have Google Assistant activated all the time, then something you described probably could happen.

No grounds to sue on. You "agreed" to it when you checked a box for an EULA at some point that you had no choice to check in order to continue. This is no coincidence I've seen too many cases that are cut and dry. The one with the tower climbing being one of them. That is a rather niche thing to have an ad on. If I said I'm hungry and saw an ad for Mcdonald's it's one thing, but this was literally an ad for a job opening for a company we actually contract out to climb our towers, after I said it would be cool to climb a tower. the wifi network is also not part of the corporate network, so don't think it's spying on what I'm doing on the work computer. It pretty much has to be using voice.

Was with my family and we tested this too. My mom just started saying "cat food". We kinda forgot about it then my sister opens Facebook on her phone and first ad is a Purina ad. The facebook app itself probably listens too, but in my case I don't use the app or even have it installed. So something is listening to the voice and either transcribing then sending the text data or just compressing it and sending it when wifi is on. It's probably selective as to what it sends I doubt it just sends everything. Samsung and Vizio TVs do it too. Well probably all smart TVs... In a way I think this is worse, because you don't even expect a TV to have a mic in first place.

 

[mxnerd]

Well, I don't have any smart devices except my PC and Android smartphone.

I don't use smartphone that much either since I hate small screens.

Besides, I installed Gostery ad blocker for Chrome browser that blocks out most ads,

so maybe that's why I did not experience anything you described.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah only time I notice is if I'm on a device that has no ad blocker, such as the phone itself. I'd be curious to turn off my adblocker on my home computer to see just how targeted the ads are though.

 

[Spacehead]

No grounds to sue on. You "agreed" to it when you checked a box for an EULA at some point that you had no choice to check in order to continue.

I would think that if there is something in the EULA for Android about listening/recording/ad targeting all your conversations, some security researcher would of brought this to everyone's attention by now.
If it was app related then probably all/most bets are off. But i would also think that the more popular apps would also get fairly scrutinized.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's probably very general like "we reserve all rights to collect information about you" which is so normalized now everyone pretty much just skips over it. I doubt they would give details as to how they do that.

 

[Pohemi]

More likely every coincidence serves to confirm a bias toward a pre-conceived conclusion.

This is no coincidence I've seen too many cases that are cut and dry. The one with the tower climbing being one of them. That is a rather niche thing to have an ad on. If I said I'm hungry and saw an ad for Mcdonald's it's one thing, but this was literally an ad for a job opening for a company we actually contract out to climb our towers, after I said it would be cool to climb a tower. the wifi network is also not part of the corporate network, so don't think it's spying on what I'm doing on the work computer. It pretty much has to be using voice.

This is why I always try to pay attention to app installs that seem to overreach on permissions for the device being installed on...I'm not about to allow an app to access my mic, camera, contacts list, etc if it isn't actually needed for the app to function. Messenger was a prime example, the requested permissions for it are insane...

 

[Ichinisan]

This is why I always try to pay attention to app installs that seem to overreach on permissions for the device being installed on...I'm not about to allow an app to access my mic, camera, contacts list, etc if it isn't actually needed for the app to function. Messenger was a prime example, the requested permissions for it are insane...

Messenger can't have a camera button if you don't grant it camera access.

It can't attach a photo from your library if you don't grant it access to that.

It has a group location sharing function that I use all the time, and that requires location access.

It has options for audio and video calls, which requires microphone and camera access.

What else does it prompt for? Which ones do you think are non-typical functions that users don't expect from a messaging application?

 

[Pohemi]

Messenger can't have a camera button if you don't grant it camera access.

It can't attach a photo from your library if you don't grant it access to that.

What else does it prompt for?

It gives a list. The list is not selectable options...you either agree, or you don't. There is no choosing to allow this but not allow that...
To show the list of requested permissions, I would have to attempt to install it on my phone, and I can't be bothered simply for your curiosity. I just know that it alarmed me the one time I almost installed it, and read the list...no way was I allowing it on my mobile.

 

[balloonshark]

I also think they are listening. I was at my sisters and my phone always connects to her wifi so they knew where I was even though I keep location off. She also has her android phone with her at all times. She has a hummingbird feeder and I remember us talking about hummingbirds. Later when I got home and started watching youtube on tv there was a video about hummingbirds which is very random compared to what I normally watch and search for on youtube.

Anyways is it ok to disable mic permissions for Google and Play store. I only use my mic for the rare phone call or perhaps a video I need to record.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, Android phones DO "listen".

 

[CZroe]

It gives a list. The list is not selectable options...you either agree, or you don't. There is no choosing to allow this but not allow that...
To show the list of requested permissions, I would have to attempt to install it on my phone, and I can't be bothered simply for your curiosity. I just know that it alarmed me the one time I almost installed it, and read the list...no way was I allowing it on my mobile.

Since Android Marshmallow or whatever (2014?), the full list is just what it might potentially ask for. You still have granular control over those security permissions. I've been using FB Messenger on my Galaxy Note 9 since July and just got prompted when I told it to share location. Wasn't always, but it is granular.

 

[Pohemi]

Since Android Marshmallow or whatever (2014?), the full list is just what it might potentially ask for. You still have granular control over those security permissions. I've been using FB Messenger on my Galaxy Note 9 since July and just got prompted when I told it to share location. Wasn't always, but it is granular.

Yeah, that's definitely better and preferable to 'all-or-nothing' agreements.

 

[CZroe]

More likely every coincidence serves to confirm a bias toward a pre-conceived conclusion.

Speaking of "coincidences," on December 30th I searched eBay for a NEC TurboGrafx TurboDuo game console and came across this:

Dymo LabelWriter 400 450 Twin Turbo Duo 4XL Label Maker Printer Spool Roll Part | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dymo LabelWriter 400 450 Twin Turbo Duo 4XL Label Maker Printer Spool Roll Part at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

rover.ebay.com

Yes, that's a 3D-printed replacement spool for a Dymo label printer exactly like the one you 3D printed on our Creality Ender 3 a month or so earlier. Didn't you find it at Goodwill.with no spool?

Anyway, eBay's promoted search results still have to match your search. It's just seller's paying for priority sorting in search results. You always see them twice in your search results, once higher-up with "promoted" on the entry and again somewhere below with the rest of the results. This isn't a case of Google telling eBay you were on Thingiverse looking for one of these.