Internet Safety & Privacy

Yet Another Health Network Is Sued For Sharing Sensitive Patient Data With Facebook

Yet Another Health Network Is Sued For Sharing Sensitive Patient Data With Facebook

Over the past year, Facebook and health care networks have faced increasing scrutiny (and legal troubles) for the sharing of sensitive patient data. The latest such case comes from Louisville, where the mother of a pediatric psychiatric patient has filed a lawsuit against a major health system for allegedly violating federal privacy laws by sharing…

read more →
Lawsuit Claims Facebook Turned Blind Eye To Sex Trafficking

Lawsuit Claims Facebook Turned Blind Eye To Sex Trafficking

According to a new lawsuit filed against Facebook parent company Meta this week, the social media giant and its leaders have turned a blind eye to sex trafficking and child exploitation on its platforms. The suit, which was filed by several investment funds holding Meta stock, claims that the company hasn’t done enough to stop…

read more →
Privacy Rights Group Targets Facebook Political Microtargeting Practice

Privacy Rights Group Targets Facebook Political Microtargeting Practice

Facebook often gets in trouble in Europe for its privacy practices, and that trend continued this week with a privacy rights group called noyb causing yet another problem for the company and its ad partners. The group has alleged that German political parties have violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by unlawfully…

read more →
Facebook Is Finally Rolling Out Paid Verification System For Improved Security

Facebook Is Finally Rolling Out Paid Verification System For Improved Security

Last month, Facebook began testing its paid “Verified” feature for Australian and New Zealand users. The company is offering these users direct access to customer support and increased protection from impersonators for $14.99 a month on mobile. And now, the social media giant has begun to roll out this controversial feature in the US too.…

read more →
Report: Many Facebook Hacking Victims Are Having Their Accounts Permanently Deleted

Report: Many Facebook Hacking Victims Are Having Their Accounts Permanently Deleted

When your Facebook account is hacked, it can be extremely difficult to regain control. However, the company can also decide to permanently delete your profile altogether even if you’ve done nothing wrong. Facebook gives every hacking victim a 30-day window to file an appeal. This entails sending the company proof of identification and details about…

read more →
Patient’s STD Test Results Posted To Facebook After Privacy Breach

Patient’s STD Test Results Posted To Facebook After Privacy Breach

Having your information hacked is a traumatic experience for everyone, but it becomes even worse when the hacker begins publicly humiliating the victim. That’s what happened recently to a woman in Contra Costa County, California, after a hospital employee gained access to her medical records and began publicly posting evidence of STDs and other “embarrassing”…

read more →
Court Finds Facebook “Unlawfully” Used Personal Data Of Dutch Users

Court Finds Facebook “Unlawfully” Used Personal Data Of Dutch Users

Facebook is used to dealing with more pressure from European privacy regulators than in the US. However, many of these countries have recently stepped up their inquiries into the company’s data practices, including the Netherlands, which this week found that Facebook illegally processed user data for targeted advertising. According to the ruling, Facebook broke privacy…

read more →
Lawsuit Claims That Mark Zuckerberg Knew About Facebook Addiction Problems

Lawsuit Claims That Mark Zuckerberg Knew About Facebook Addiction Problems

Several years ago, a Facebook whistleblower revealed that the company had knowledge its platforms could be harmful and addictive to users yet did nothing about it. Now, the social media giant is beginning to face lawsuits over this issue, including one that was unsealed this weekend revealing the company’s top leader was well aware of…

read more →
Facebook AI Leaks Online And Gets Used To Create Offensive Chatbot

Facebook AI Leaks Online And Gets Used To Create Offensive Chatbot

These days, many tech companies are investing in artificial intelligence technology that can be used to build powerful chat bots, and Facebook is no exception. However, after the social media giant released its language model called LLaMa to a select group of researchers and government officials, it leaked on 4chan. Then, troublemaking users used this…

read more →
Sexual Deepfake Ads Using Actress’ Faces Are Running On Facebook

Sexual Deepfake Ads Using Actress’ Faces Are Running On Facebook

This week, Facebook and Instagram began running ads for a deepfake app that show actresses like Emma Watson and Scarlett Johansson initiating sexual acts. According to a report from NBC News, this app rolled out more than 230 ads across the company’s platforms — despite Facebook explicitly banning content like this. After it was notified…

read more →