Snopes ends its fact-checking partnership with Facebook
There are numerous problems associated with Facebook, but the two that are talked about most are privacy and the spread of "fake news". To help combat the dissemination of misinformation, the social network partnered with numerous companies and news outlets to fact-check stories.
One of these partners was Snopes, the site famous for debunking myths, urban legends and fake news. But now the site has announced that it is ending its partnership with Facebook, citing " the ramifications and costs of providing third-party fact-checking services".
Mozilla COO contacts European Commission voicing concerns about Facebook's lack of ad transparency
Facebook has been no stranger to controversy and scandal over the years, but things have been particularly bad over the last twelve months. The latest troubles find Mozilla complaining to the European Commission about the social network's lack of transparency, particularly when it comes to political advertising.
Mozilla's Chief Operating Officer, Denelle Dixon, has penned a missive to Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society. She bemoans the fact that Facebook makes it impossible to conduct analysis of ads, and this in turn prevents Mozilla from offering full transparency to European citizens -- something it sees as important in light of the impending EU elections.
Facebook has been paying people to install a VPN that harvests data about them
An investigation has revealed that Facebook has been paying people aged between 13 and 35 to install a data harvesting VPN tool. The "Facebook Research" VPN was offered to iOS and Android users who were paid up to $20 per month -- plus referral commissions -- to provide the social network with near-unfettered access to phone, app and web usage data (a Root Certificate is installed to give a terrifying level of access).
As news of the activity came to light, Facebook has announced that the program (sometimes referred to as Project Atlas) is being terminated on iOS, but it seems that it will be continuing on Android. If this sounds slightly familiar, you just need to think back a few months to when Facebook's Onavo Protect VPN was kicked out of the App Store for violating Apple's data collection rules.
Try not to laugh -- for Data Privacy Day, Facebook wants you to take a Privacy Checkup
Facebook is not a platform that's synonymous with privacy -- far from it. In addition to the things users purposefully share with the social network and the people they are connected to on it, there have been a seemingly endless string of scandals about unauthorized third parties being granted access to private data, data being shared between apps, and so on ad nauseum.
With today being Data Privacy Day, Facebook is trying -- apparently without a faintest hint of irony -- to jump on the bandwagon. Starting today, the company is launching a new Privacy and Data Use Business Hub, as well as inviting users to take a Privacy Checkup.
Insiders say Mark Zuckerberg plans to unify WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger
Like Google constantly launching and closing services, the appalling disparate mess of apps produced by Facebook is something of an industry joke. Mark Zuckerberg is well-aware of this, and it seems he wants to do something about it.
Insiders at the company say plans are afoot to change the way Facebook Messenger, WhastApp and Instagram function, unifying their messaging system for better integration. On top of this, Zuckerberg also wants each of the three messaging services to feature end-to-end encryption.
Advance warning: Facebook is closing down photo-sharing app Moments in a month -- time to save your pictures!
Facebook is throwing in the towel on Moments as the company kills off yet another of its apps. The photo-sharing app will close down on February 25, meaning there's just a month left for the service.
If you're one of the relatively small number of users, you don't have long to grab a copy of the photos you want to save. Facebook has set up a special website to help you to download copies of your images.
WhatsApp imposes five-recipient limit on forwarded messages to limit 'misinformation and rumors'
All social networks and messaging tools have been used as platforms to distribute fake news. Companies have taken various steps -- such as introducing fact-checking -- to help curb these problems, and now the Facebook-owned WhatsApp is introducing new measures that limit the number of people users can forward a message to.
The company has previously allowed messages to be forwarded to up to 20 people, but now -- in a bid to limit the spread of "misinformation and rumors" -- this has been reduced to just five.
Privacy International investigation finds a huge number of Android apps share data with Facebook -- whether you have an account or not
Facebook's track record with privacy is a rocky one, but the idea of giving up some personal data is seen by many users as an acceptable price to pay for using the social network. But an investigation by Privacy International has found that many Android apps are sharing data with Facebook about people regardless of whether they are logged into their Facebook account... or even have a Facebook account at all.
The findings of the investigation raise questions about Facebook's transparency when it comes to handling user (and non-user) data, and the privacy implications of profiling by the social networking behemoth -- particularly in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Facebook, Instagram, Google, Spotify, WhatsApp and more reimagined as tech products from the 1980s
It’s a fair bet that we’d never have heard of Facebook, Instagram, Google and WhatsApp if the internet hadn’t been invented, but London-based graphic designer Thomas Ollivier has put his skills into re-imagining how some of today’s top tech brands might have looked in the pre-internet days of the 1980s.
The collection of images, which he’s titled Re:Birth, provides a fun glimpse into how technology has changed in the past 30 years. And boy has it changed.
Facebook addresses controversy over third-party access to private messages
Facebook has been the source of much privacy-related controversy over the years, particularly over the last year or so. The past few days have been no different, with the social networking giant facing questions over the level of access it granted partners to private user data.
Of particular concern to users is the suggestion that Facebook gave the likes of Spotify and Netflix access to users' private messages. Having already gone on the defensive about some of the allegations leveled at it, Facebook is now trying to defend itself about the messaging allegations -- or, as the company puts it "we wanted to provide more facts about our messaging partnerships".
Facebook gave dozens of companies access to user data such as friends lists and private messages
Details have come to light about the deals Facebook struck with the likes of Microsoft, Spotify, Netflix, Apple and Amazon. A report by the New York Times revealed that the social network had given numerous companies access to a plethora of private user data, ranging from the names of friends, to private messages.
Facebook has responded by saying that no access was granted to third parties without user permission, but questions remain about whether users were fully aware of the level of access companies had to their data, or whether they knew they were agreeing to sharing private data.
Facebook Messenger update adds Boomerang looping videos, new Selfie mode and AR stickers
Facebook is borrowing more features from Instagram and will be pushing a Facebook Messenger update to users starting today. The camera-focused update sees the arrival of not only a new selfie mode, but also support for Boomerang looping videos and AR stickers.
The update is heavily inspired by Instagram, to the point that the new Selfie mode that automatically blurs backgrounds is practically identical to Instagram's Portrait mode.
Facebook API bug may have exposed 6.8 million users' private photos
Another week and yet another in a seemingly endless stream of Facebook privacy issues. The social networking giant has found itself apologizing, yet again, for leaking users' private data. This time around, an API bug meant that private photos of millions of users may have been exposed to app developers.
The bug was present for nearly two weeks and it went further than simply giving developers access to photos users had posted to their accounts -- it also exposed photos that had been uploaded but not actually posted.
Instagram's new Close Friends option lets you limit the audience for Stories
Instagram has announced the rollout of Close Friends, a feature that makes it possible to create a list of people with whom you'd like to share Stories. This is very different to the current approach which sees Stories shared with everyone.
The feature has been beta tested for nearly a year and a half and is now ready for primetime. Rolling out to iOS and Androind in the coming days, the new feature will be welcomed by those who had concerns about privacy on Instagram.
Facebook Watch is a disaster... so now it will target an older audience
Facebook's plan for Facebook Watch to be a viable competitor to YouTube seemed a little unlikely -- to say the least -- and it would seem that the pessimists were right. Facebook Watch has proved to be a dud.
A little over a year after launch, the on-demand video service has gained an audience of just 50 million people. This might initially sound like a large number, but YouTube has -- admittedly over a number of years -- amassed over 1.8 billion users. The problem appears to be that younger audiences are simply not interested in Facebook Watch, so Facebook is now switching the focus of the service to an older market.
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