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Tag: Facebook

  • Twitter Users on Android May Have Had Their Personal Data Compromised

    Twitter Users on Android May Have Had Their Personal Data Compromised

    Twitter and Facebook have announced that personal data of hundreds of users may have been compromised after they used their accounts to log in to certain third-party apps. This includes their names, gender, email addresses, usernames, and possibly their most recent tweets.

    Both companies received a report from security researchers who found that a software development kit called One Audience, allowed third party developers to access personal data.

    “We recently received a report about a malicious mobile software development kit (SDK) maintained by oneAudience. We are informing you about this today because we believe we have a responsibility to inform you of incidents that may impact the safety of your personal data or Twitter account,” Twitter wrote in a blog post on Monday.

    Apps usually ask for access to users’ social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter to offer extra features such as the ability to share achievements and in-game leaderboards. However, apps using this SDK potentially allowed third-party developers to access much more data than users originally intended to.

    The company also notes that it might have been possible for someone to take control of someone else’s Twitter account using this vulnerability, however, no evidence in this regard has been found yet.

    “We think it’s important for people to be aware that this exists out there and that they review the apps that they use to connect to their accounts,” said Lindsay McCallum, a Twitter spokeswoman.

    For now, the vulnerability only seems to affect Twitter users on Android, as no evidence has been found yet that suggests iOS users were also impacted.

    Twitter said it has informed Google and Apple about the vulnerability so that they can take evasive measures. The company also said it will be informing Twitter users impacted by this vulnerability.

  • Facebook Working on Fixing Bug That Activates Your Iphone’s Camera

    Facebook Working on Fixing Bug That Activates Your Iphone’s Camera

    Facebook is reportedly working on fixing a bug that automatically activates users’ iPhone camera while using its iOS app. The social networking giant is aware of the bug and has promised to roll out a fix for the same by today.

    The bug was discovered earlier this month when Facebook slang words users started noticing that their iPhone’s camera was automatically activated while viewing photos and videos. Sources suggest that the bug appears to be limited to iOS as no Android user has noticed the glitch so far.

    Users reported that while viewing videos in full screen, the camera was running in the background while scrolling Facebook. The company has acknowledged the issue and says the glitch was introduced while it fixed another bug in version 244 of the Facebook iOS app.

    “We recently discovered that version 244 of the Facebook iOS app would incorrectly launch in landscape mode. In fixing that issue last week in v246 (launched on November 8th) we inadvertently introduced a bug that caused the app to partially navigate to the camera screen adjacent to News Feed when users tapped on photos. We have seen no evidence of photos or videos being uploaded due to this bug. We’re submitting the fix for this to Apple today,” Facebook said in a statement.

    Until the bug fix arrives, users are recommenced to deny camera access for the Facebook app. Facebook’s reputation when it comes to user privacy has taken a hit in recent years. In 2018, a study revealed how Facebook exposed information about nearly 87 million users to a political analysis firm for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. It was later found that the data was used for targeted political advertising.

    While earlier this year, a security firm also found out that hundreds of millions of Facebook records were exposed on Amazon cloud servers.

  • Facebook teams up with Ray-Ban to develop smart glasses

    Facebook teams up with Ray-Ban to develop smart glasses

    Facebook has reportedly joined hands with Ray-Ban to develop its augmented reality glasses. Code-named Project Orion, the project is expected to be ready for a commercial release between 2023 and 2025.

    According to the report, Facebook has been working on augmented reality glasses for the past couple of years now, however, several roadblocks related to the development of these smart glasses have left the company with no choice but to seek outside help. Hence, the social networking giant has teamed up Ray-Ban’s parent company Luxottica to complete the project.

    Notably, the report indicates these glasses are designed to replace smartphones. These smart glasses would look much like any typical sunglasses that are currently available in the market. However, they’ll be equipped with hardware that’ll allow users to take calls, show information to them on a small display, and have social networking features.

    Facebook has hundreds of employees at its Redmond office in Washington working on these augmented reality glasses. However, the company has reportedly struggled to shrink the size of these glasses to make them more practical and appealing to users. Facebook’s Project Orion smart glasses are expected to be ready for consumers before 2023. However, one can’t say whether the project is practical enough to be ready for a commercial release. With that being said, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly asked the company’s augmented and virtual reality divisions to focus more on Project Orion.

    Elsewhere, Facebook is also working on a voice assistant to rival the likes of Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and the Google Assistant. Facebook envisions that its new AI assistant could be used with Project Orion, serving as user input for these glasses. In addition, Facebook is also working on a device code-named Agios, a ring-shaped device that allows users to interact via motion sensors.

  • Facebook plans to rename Instagram and WhatsApp

    Facebook plans to rename Instagram and WhatsApp

    Both WhatsApp and Instagram are essentially household names around the world. With such popularity, one would assume that renaming both these brands would be simply pointless and downright crazy. Though, it appears that’s exactly what Facebook has in mind.

    The company confirmed on Friday about it plans to rename WhatsApp and Instagram. Facebook essentially plans to add its own name to these apps. Hence, from now on, WhatsApp will be known as ‘WhatsApp from Facebook’ and similarly, Instagram will be called ‘Instagram from Facebook’.

    The whole point behind the name change is that Facebook wants people to know who’s the boss, as it owns both Instrgram and WhatsApp. Sources indicate that the new name will be displayed only on the app stgore pages on both iOS and Android. The name change will also be visible on the login pages.

    “We want to be clearer about the products and services that are part of Facebook”. said Facebook.

    To recall, Facebook bought Instagram back in 2012 followed by WhatsApp in 2014.Since then, Facebook has allowed to them function as seperate entities, with their own namagers, employees, and different work places.

    In the past few years, even Facebook has acquired a lot of features from Instagram For instance, Intagram. stories, a feature inspired by Snpachat, was added to WhatsApp as Status and on Facebook as stories. However, Facebook has also been slammed over data privacy and security concerns over the past few years. For now, Instagram and WhatsApp are not affected by these privacy issues, and we hope it stays the same.

  • Facebook tracks Android users who don’t even use the app: Report

    Facebook tracks Android users who don’t even use the app: Report

    Lately, Facebook has received a lot of criticism over user privacy and trust. Come 2019, and the social networking giant has been found to routinely track Android users even if they don’t use the app. According to a study by UK-based charity Privacy International, Facebook tracks users, non-users, and even logged out users. The study further found that after Google, the social network giant is the second most prevalent thrid-party tracking app.

    “Data from different apps can paint a fine-grained and intimate picture of people’s activities, interests, behaviors and routines, some of which can reveal special category data, including information about people’s health or religion,” the report said.

    Privacy International has unearthed a total of 34 Android apps with 10 to 500 million installs. These include apps such as TripAdvisor and Duolingo. The research suggests that app developers share data with the network via Facebook Software Development Kit (SDK). As many as 61 percent of the apps that Privacy International tested automatically transfer data to Facebook as soon as a user opens the app.

    “At least 61 percent of the tested apps automatically transfer data to Facebook the moment a user opens the app. This happens whether people have a Facebook account or not, or whether they are logged into Facebook or not,” explained the study.

    Facebook says it’s OK to share user data

    In response, the network told Privacy Interntaional that sharing data is a common partice for most companies, as it turns out to be useful for both users as well as comapnies.

    “This information is important for helping developers understand how to improve their apps and for helping people receive relevant advertising in a privacy-protective way. We do this in a transparent manner by explaining the practice through our Data Policy and Cookies Policy, and by using Google’s advertising identifier, which can be controlled centrally by people using their device settings,” the social networking giant told Independent.

    As already mentioned, Facebook has been embroiled in several controversies off late. Last year, it was critcised for harvesting personal data which resulted in election interference. A survey conducted by also Uber found that users trusted Facebook the least with their personal information, followed by Twitter and Amazon.

  • Facebook bug exposes photos of 6.8 million users

    Facebook bug exposes photos of 6.8 million users

    Facebook has officially announced that a bug on its network has exposed photos of 6.8 million users without their consent. The social network states that a photo API bug gave third-party app developers access to users’ photos they may not have publically shared.

    “Photos that users started to upload to Facebook but did not post could have been accessed, along with images posted to Facebook Stories. We’re sorry this happened,” wrote Tomer Bar, an engineering director at Facebook, in a blog post.

    According to Facebook, photos could have been accessed by 1500 apps created by 876 developers as a result of this bug. Next week, the company plans to offer tools for app developers which will allow them to find users that may have been impacted by the bug.

    Besides, the company added it will notify users who may been affected by the bug through a Facebook notification that will redirect them to the Help Centre. You can find a mock-up of that notification in the image below:

    facebook bug

    “Currently, we believe this may have affected up to 6.8 million users and up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers. The only apps affected by this bug were ones that Facebook approved to access the photos API and that individuals had authorized to access their photos,” further explained Facebook.

    Facebook added that the bug was live for 12 days from September 13th to September 25th. The company said it discovered the bug on September 25th, and informed the Office of Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) on November 22nd.

    As to why they waited so long to disclose the bug, Facebook reportedly said that it took time to investigate the issue and find out how many users were affected.

    For now, Facebook recommends users to log into any apps with which they might’ve shared their Facebook photos with to find out which photos they’ve gained access.

  • Instagram adds voice messaging to Direct Messages

    Instagram adds voice messaging to Direct Messages

    After rolling out Close Friends, Instagram has added a new voice messaging feature to DMs. As the name suggests, the feature allows users to send and receive 1 minute long audio messages in private as well as group chats. The feature is now rolling out globally for iOS and Android devices.

    “Starting today, you can send voice messages in Direct. Talk the way you want to be heard, whether by whispering what you’re up to or shouting a compliment,” said Instagram on Twitter.

    instagram

    To use the voice messaging feature in DMs, just hold down the microphone button and record your audio message. The message is sent automatically as soon as you release the microphone button. Besides, you also get the option to cancel or re-record the message by sliding your finger over to the trash icon. The message will be automatically deleted if you do so.

    Instagram may be a little late to implement voice messaging to DMs, as Facebook users have been enjoying the feature for years now. That said, the addition of voice-messaging will certainly appeal Instagram users, given the rising popularity of voice-messaging on platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat.

    Besides, it’ll also appeal to users who aren’t really comfortable typing messages, giving them the option to talk instead of typing.

    Instagram has announced several changes to its network this year. The company has already announced its plans to introduce a redesigned user profile page. Last month, the Facebook-owned social network rolled out a new feature called Close Friends. Not to mention, Instagram is also taking stringent measures to crack down fake followers and likes on its platform.

  • Instagram rolls out a new feature called Close Friends

    Instagram rolls out a new feature called Close Friends

    Instagram has announced a new feature called Close Friends, designed to give users a little more privacy on its social network. As the name suggests, the new feature allows users to share stories which they might consider private to just a select group of friends.

    “Starting today, you can make a close friends list on Stories and share with just the people you’ve added. Instagram Stories has become the place to express yourself and share everyday moments, but our community has grown and sometimes what you want to share isn’t for everyone. With Close Friends, you have the flexibility to share more personal moments with a smaller group that you choose,” the company said in a press release.

    Using the feature is relatively simple. To add friends you want in the list, just go to your profile and tap on “Close Friends” in the side menu. When you share Stories, you’ll get the option to share with just the people you’ve added on your Close Friends list.

    Besides, you’ll have absolute control over the list, as no one can request you to add them. To know if you’re on someone’s Close Friends list, you’ll see a green circle around their photos in the Stories tray, or a green colored badge when you view their Stories.

    That said, it appears the feature is only available for Stories, and not regular posts. Nevertheless, it’s a new feature that gives you more control over who can see your Stories on Instagram. Close Friends has started rolling out today globally on the latest version of the Instagram app on Android and iOS.

    Instagram has been working on several changes to its platform. The company has already announced its plans to introduce a redesigned user profile page. Besides, the Facebook-owned social network has finally stepped up to crack down fake followers and likes.

  • Facebook launches a new standalone video-sharing app, called Lasso

    Facebook launches a new standalone video-sharing app, called Lasso

    Facebook quietly launches its standalone new video-sharing app, dubbed as Lasso. The new app is essentially a TikTok rip-off, which lets users share and create music filled videos. Facebook has reportedly been working on Lasso since October, and is now available on both iOS and Android users.

    Lasso is Facebook’s attempt to attract youths who’ve been ditching its flagship platform. The app allows users to discover content using hashtags, create new short videos using a bunch of fun-filled tools, and follow other creators.

    Facebook also promised that its new app features a massive music library, just like the popular short-video social networking app TikTok. Users can record themselves lip-syncing and dancing. The app also offers other TikTok-like features such as adding music and cool effects to your videos. Even Lasso’s user interface looks exactly similar to that of TikTok.

    Being a Facebook-owned app, you can create a Lasso account with your Facebook or Instagram. Just allow the app to access your profile page, photos and videos, and Lasso lets you share your videos from the app directly to your Facebook story. Once you’re through with the setup, you can directly scroll through a huge library of short videos.

    Given the fact there’s already tons of content on Lasso, it appears the app was available to a small group of community users before its public release. Reports also suggest that a similar support is also expected to arrive with Instagram stories later this year.

    It’s also worth noting that Facebook has been surprisingly quiet about Lasso’s release. The company has posted no official statement on its website, apart from a short Tweet by Facebook product manager Andy Huang where he announced the app’s launch.