A hacker created the Facebook torrent that is accessible to any person who wants files from Facebook data. Rob Bowes is the person who decided it would be fun to put time into making a web crawling code to steal info off Facebook from 171 million users. The file, about 2.8 GB, has been posted online as a torrent. Facebook made their remark on the issue saying all the details is what can be found with a search engine and doesn’t matter all that much. But others say the Facebook torrent is another indictment of Facebook privacy policy, and users should be concerned.
Stealing info from 171 million Facebook users
The Facebook torrent contains names, profile URLs and unique user IDs for 171 million Facebook members. Pirate Bay is where Bowes, who heads Skull Security, has decided to place this torrent for the world, reports the Daily Tech. It was the morning of July 28 when there were already 13,000 active downloads happening. Details Facebook users didn’t hide with privacy setting is shown here. The torrent doesn’t consist of, luckily, those who have privacy settings set to friends only.
Facebook difficulties with privacy
The Facebook torrent comes at a bad time when Facebook is already suffering the losses from their change on privacy settings to allow commercial use. In a statement to BBC News, Facebook said personal info individuals have “agreed to make public” was collected by a researcher, and that no one’s privacy has been compromised. Tech Crunch suggests that users decide soon to change their privacy settings to “friends only.” When leaving your settings at “everyone,” you are bound to have individuals like Bowes who are willing to steal you info and abuse it.
Personal data on Facebook torrent can never be deleted
The Facebook torrent information is available to anybody who uses the search engines Google, Bing or Facebooksearch. The Facebook torrent contains a simple snapshot in one moment in time of Facebook that will last forever, reports Future. The details can never go away, even when users delete their accounts or change their privacy settings.
Facebook torrent and what it targets
Bowes decided to consist of in the torrent the programs used to get all the details to steal from one fifth of Facebook users. Tech Crunch explains that Bowes wants more than just searchable users and intends to get the rest. By default, it is not likely Facebook will change to friends only, which is what people want and threatening to quit for-
Go to Account and Privacy Settings and Applications, Games, and Websites (link near the bottom, in a box) and Public Search and (Uncheck box).
Additional reading
Daily Tech
dailytech.com/Info+on+100M+Facebook+Users+Harvested+and+Posted+in+Torrent++Legally/article19198.htm
Tech Crunch
techcrunch.com/2010/07/28/hacker-proves-facebooks-public-data-is-public/
Future of the Internet
futureoftheinternet.org/facebooks-ocean-of-names-becomes-a-torrent
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