Posted on 08/13/2015 10:33:47 AM PDT by PapaBear3625
Three months ago, Harvard student Aran Khanna was preparing to start a coveted internship at Facebook when he launched a browser application from his dorm room that angered the social media behemoth.
His application, called Marauder’s Map — a clever name that Harry Potter fans will appreciate — was a Chrome extension that used data from Facebook Messenger to map where users were when they sent messages. The app also showed the locations, which were accurate to within three feet, in a group chat with people he barely knew. That meant complete strangers could hypothetically see that he had messaged them from a Starbucks around the corner, while he could see that they had messaged from their dorms.
The app capitalized on a privacy flaw that Facebook had been aware of for about three years: the Facebook Messenger app automatically shared users’ locations with anyone who they messaged.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I think the privacy flaw was intentional on Facebook's part, for the benefit of certain data-customers.
He never saw the movie “The Social Network?”
I thought everyone knew this.
Is there something else this guy pointed out?
There is no doubt in my mind that the “flaw” was actually a design feature of the software used by the government agency known as Facebook.
I think the headline is misleading [read: Incorrect].
I’m pretty sure he was fired for writing an app that utilized/exploited the anti-privacy “flaw”, as opposed to simply pointing it out.
Facebook Messenger doesn't post location data from a regular PC, but the location info is in the data stream.
This guy's app showed that your location was being shared from your PC as well. Read the whole article for details.
Yes, he wrote an app that exposed the flaw, in a way that made it impossible to ignore, and which forced facebook to make an immediate fix.
Its absolutely intentional. It must be their main selling feature for adverts. I thought it was obvious. I was recently visiting a relative in Atlanta (I'm from NY). I googled recipes for ingredients to a specific Chinese dish. I then started receiving ads for Chinese restaurants in the area I happened to be in.
There's a saying, if a service is free, then you are not the customer, you are the product (or rather information about you is the product).
“... if a service is free, then you are not the customer, you are the product ...”
Words to live by.
About three years ago, FB informed me of an attempt to "hack" my SC acc't -- the one FB just nuked, btw, because they're ***holes -- and told me the attempt to log on as me originated in Atlanta, GA. I'd wondered how they were so sure.
Privacy is a myth.
Using Facebook IS the privacy flaw. It’s like being your own FBI agent documenting all your activities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.