Temporary Lapse Grants Users Access to Private Photos

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a security lapse yesterday granted users access to photos that were set to private by their friends and other users. The loophole was uncovered by a security expert who was testing out weaknesses in the new Facebook system. Brandee Barker of Facebook immediately responded saying that the issue was resolved within an hour.

While the breach was not significant it did highlight the risk that Facebook faces when it comes to protecting user privacy. This is nothing new though and considering the substantial amount of data that Facebook holds on individuals, it comes as no surprise that the company takes privacy so seriously. As Facebook grows, the company will be forced to place more privacy protections in place at each level of development and deployment.

Then again, should Facebook hold the same standards for their photos team as they do for their credit card processing team? While I don’t know the answer to that question I would imagine that it ends up being a cost-benefit analysis which determines how much protection goes into each product. For today, Facebook is once secure again. Who knows where that will be a few days from now!

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