Facebook: Cambridge Analytica Accessed Data on 87 Million Users, Not 50 Million

[LASER_oneXM]

Content source

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/facebook-cambridge-analytica-accessed-data-on-87-million-users-not-50-million/

Facebook revealed today that Cambridge Analytica accessed the personal information of more than 87 million users, and not 50 million, as it was initially reported.
More than 70 million, 80% of the total tally, are Americans, the social network revealed in a chart breaking down users per country (image above).

Facebook to notify all affected users
Facebook plans to notify all of the 87 million affected users on Monday, April 9, with a message that would appear at the top of their Facebook timeline.
The social network also plans to show an additional message that will ask all users, not just the affected 87 million, to review the apps that have access to their Facebook data.
To account for lazy users that dismiss these messages, Facebook also said it would automatically cut an app's access to user data if the user hasn't used the app for the last three months.

Too little too late

Besides warnings for users, Facebook also announced today other changes, including:


↣ Updates to the site's data policy and terms of service.
↣ Apps won't have access to Facebook event participants and posts on the event's wall.
↣ Apps won't have access to a Facebook group's member list.
↣ Apps that want access to a Facebook group will need to be reviewed by Facebook and approved by the group's admin.
↣ Apps won't have access to the user's name and photo for comments made inside a Facebook group.
↣ Facebook staff will review every app that needs to access a Facebook page.
↣ Apps won't be able to access a user's religious or political views, relationship status and details, custom friends lists, education and work history, fitness activity, book reading activity, music listening activity, news reading, video watch activity, and games activity.
↣ Users won't be able to search for users using their phone number or email address. Facebook said "malicious actors have abused these features to scrape public profile information by submitting phone numbers or email addresses they already have through search and account recovery."
↣ The Facebook Android app will not collect calls and SMS metadata anymore.

Facebook has taken these steps to fight abusive apps like the one developed by an academic for Cambridge Analytica.