Facebook users cannot avoid location-based ads, investigation finds

No combination of settings can stop location data being used by advertisers, says reportFacebook targets users with location-based adverts even if they block the company from accessing GPS on their phones, turn off location history in the app, hide their work location on their profile and never use the company’s “check in” feature, according to an investigation published this week.There is no combination of settings that users can enable to prevent their location data from being used by advertisers to target them, according to the privacy researcher Aleksandra Korolova. “Taken together,” Korolova says, “Facebook creates an illusion of control rather than giving actual control over location-related ad targeting, which can lead to real harm.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Facebook is designing for an incoming avalanche of dead users

A new study finds that by 2050, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. Here’s how the company is designing user experiences to face the billions of dead users to come. By 2050, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. That’s a conservative estimate, according to a study... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #conservative estimate #study finds #study published


Facebook says settling FTC investigation could cost up to $5 billion

Facebook Inc. estimated that it will cost as much as $5 billion to resolve a U.S. investigation into its privacy practices, as the social-media giant moves to put the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal behind it. Facebook said Wednesday that it took a $3-billion charge related to... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-24 22:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$5 billion #privacy practices


Facebook says settling FTC investigation could cost up to $5 billion

Facebook Inc. estimated that it will cost as much as $5 billion to resolve a U.S. investigation into its privacy practices, as the social-media giant moves to put the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal behind it. Facebook said Wednesday that it took a $3-billion charge related to... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-24 22:10:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$5 billion #privacy practices


Facebook uploaded email contacts of 1.5m users without consent

Company says it has stopped using password verification feature that collected data Facebook has admitted to “unintentionally” uploading the address books of 1.5 million users without consent, and says it will delete the collected data and notify those affected.The discovery follows criticism of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Study: Facebook ad targeting may discriminate—even when advertisers don’t want it to

Despite researchers’ efforts to target every race equally, they found that Facebook’s platform targeted by race anyway A new research paper published on Wednesday shows that Facebook’s ad targeting can discriminate by race and gender, even when advertisers request that their ads should be shown... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ad targeting #broad audience


Hundreds of millions of Facebook user records exposed on Amazon cloud servers

Facebook Inc. user data is still showing up in places it shouldn’t. Researchers at UpGuard, a cybersecurity firm, found troves of user information hiding in plain sight, inadvertently posted publicly on Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud computing servers. The discovery shows that a year after the... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-03 20:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #user data #plain sight


Facebook considering hiring editors to pick quality news for users

Mark Zuckerberg also said he is weighing up paying publishers for use of their journalismFacebook could start employing editors to select “high-quality news” to show to users, in the social network’s latest attempt to lose its reputation as a source for disinformation.Mark Zuckerberg said he is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hiring editors #mark zuckerberg #latest attempt


Facebook left ‘hundreds of millions’ of users’ passwords stored in plain text

Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it had left “hundreds of millions” of users’ passwords exposed in plain text, potentially visible to the company’s employees, marking another major privacy and security headache for a tech giant already under fire for mishandling people’s personal... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-21 20:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #passwords stored #plain text #left hundreds #passwords exposed #potentially visible #major privacy #security headache #tech giant #mishandling people #personal information


Facebook left ‘hundreds of millions’ of users’ passwords stored in plain text

Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it had left “hundreds of millions” of users’ passwords exposed in plain text, potentially visible to the company’s employees, marking another major privacy and security headache for a tech giant already under fire for mishandling people’s personal... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-21 20:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #passwords stored #plain text #left hundreds #passwords exposed #potentially visible #major privacy #security headache #tech giant #mishandling people #personal information


Several apps funnel users’ sensitive data to Facebook without consent, report says

Several phone apps are sending sensitive user data, including health information, to Facebook Inc. without users’ consent, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. An analytics tool called App Events enables app developers to record user activity and report it back to Facebook even... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-22 22:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sensitive data #phone apps


Several apps funnel users’ sensitive data to Facebook without consent, report says

Several phone apps are sending sensitive user data, including health information, to Facebook Inc. without users’ consent, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. An analytics tool called App Events enables app developers to record user activity and report it back to Facebook even... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-22 22:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sensitive data #phone apps


Facebook decided which users are interested in Nazis — and let advertisers target them directly

Facebook makes money by charging advertisers to reach just the right audience for their message — even when that audience is made up of people interested in the perpetrators of the Holocaust or explicitly neo-Nazi music. Despite promises of greater oversight following past advertising... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people interested #facebook decided #advertisers target #charging advertisers #greater oversight


Facebook decided which users are interested in Nazis — and let advertisers target them directly

Facebook makes money by charging advertisers to reach just the right audience for their message — even when that audience is made up of people interested in the perpetrators of the Holocaust or explicitly neo-Nazi music. Despite promises of greater oversight following past advertising... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people interested #facebook decided #advertisers target #charging advertisers #greater oversight


Facebook tests empowering publishers to deliver ads to Watch

Facebook wants to be friendlier to TV networks and digital media publishers who have shows on Watch by giving these partners the ability to sell ads through their own ad technology, according to advertising and technology executives with knowledge of the initiative.The social media giant is... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ad technology #technology executives #select group #media companies #tv network #digital publishers


Gov. Gavin Newsom's Facebook ads in swing states stir 2020 speculation

Political ads featuring California Gov. Gavin Newsom are popping up on Facebook in Ohio, Florida and other swing states in the 2020 presidential election, stirring speculation about whether the Democrat is testing the waters for a potential White House run. Newsom, who was sworn into office less... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook ads #swing states


Older people more likely to share fake news on Facebook, study finds

Researchers suggest over-65s may lack skills to determine veracity of online newsOlder people are almost four times more likely to have shared fake news on Facebook than the younger generation, according to research published in the journal Science.On average, American Facebook users over 65... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #younger generation #research published


Facebook e-mails reveal Zuckerberg deliberations on user data

Facebook is being accused by U.K. lawmakers of offering access to its users and their data based on the amount of money a prospective partner would spend, following the latest document dump painting its leadership team in a potentially unflattering light.On Wednesday, British lawmaker Damian... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #offering access #user data #leadership team #internal emails #including correspondence


Sheryl Sandberg asked Facebook staff to investigate George Soros' finances

Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook Inc., told employees to investigate the financial interests of billionaire George Soros in response to his January criticism of the social media giant. Sandberg wanted to know if Soros had a financial incentive to criticize Facebook, the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #criticize facebook #sheryl sandberg #told employees


Facebook exempts news publishers from its archive on political ads

Facebook says it will stop including some publishers' advertising in its political ad archive following months of criticism from news organizations.Next year the social media giant will no longer require publishers who want to buy ads boosting exposure to their articles on politics to go through... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #political ads #news organizations


Outgoing Facebook Employee Slams Company for Treatment of Black Employees and Users

A former manager at Facebook published a scathing memo on Tuesday criticizing the social media giant for its treatment of its black users and its black employees. Mark Luckie, a former partner manager for global influencers at Facebook who focused on underrepresented voices, wrote in a memo to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black users #facebook published #black employees #underrepresented voices