Facebook Users Data Collected, 170 Million Profiles Available For Download

Facebook-Privacy

The Facebook privacy concerns have surfaced once again, and security consultant, Ron Bowes, head of Skull Security has just revealed how easy collecting private data is with over 170 million profiles having been collected.

The use of a well-coded crawler code allowed Bowes to collect the data and posted the 170 million profils on a torrent site known as the Pirate Bay. Data was collected from users who intentionally or unintentionally forgot to protect their private details.

In recent months, privacy changes by Facebook have caused many concerns to users, as it has come across as an attempt to make the user’s data available. Many users don’t even know that their information is being shared to the general public, making it a large cause for concern.

Facebook rebutted the results of this exercise by saying that, “This information already exists in Google, Bing, other search engines, as well as on Facebook. No private data is available or has been compromised. Similar to the white pages of the phone book, this is the information available to enable people to find each other, which is the reason people join Facebook.”

Users who have made available their email addresses, phone numbers, and other private information may be particularly at risk.