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Facebook Bug Leaks Birthday Data

Techtree News Staff, Jul 18, 2008 1846 hrs IST

While it's a small data glitch, it could have serious repercussions if exploited by identity thieves.

Last week, birthday details of over 80 million FaceBook users were inadvertently exposed due to a bug in the test version of the web site.

Sophos Senior Technology Consultant Graham Cluely discovered the bug while he was checking the new Facebook design. He noted that birth dates of some of his very reclusive and privacy-obsessed acquaintances were popping up when actually they should have been hidden.

While Facebook does allow the user to control who can have access to private information, the information was accessible to all users online in this case. Although a small glitch, this could have a serious impact as identity thieves can misuse this valuable piece of information.

According to Cluely, the new profile page essentially ignored the privacy setting to withhold the data of birth. On Wednesday, Facebook issued a statement saying, "For a brief period of time, a small number of users were able to access a private beta of Facebook's new site design meant only for developers. During that time, some of those users had their birthdays revealed due to a bug."

However, there is no information as to how long the data was exposed and how many people noticed it as the issue was patched within hours of its discovery. Cluley himself did not consider this a major data breach, but he said it should serve as a warning to people who put a lot of information on social networks. He added, "It raises a more serious question which is, 'Can you trust these social networks to look after your data properly?'"

Source: PC World

USER COMMENTS

i wan to see my result my seat no.19106

by bhakti aundhkar, mumbai, on Jul 23, 2008 12:19 PM, Report abuse Reply

facebook needs to take some responsibility here and inform its users. this isn't the first time. When I log in I want to know that the information is personal and not everyone can see. Im am very dissapointed. get some better security already. An uhappy user.

by annette bouvier, otterburne.canada, on Jul 19, 2008 03:47 AM, Report abuse Reply

why cant i log in has it effected me?

by annemarie rice, pontefract, on Jul 19, 2008 03:45 AM, Report abuse Reply

Think I might have been caught up in the birthday bug just now as it's kicked me off the site

by tuppennychef, essex, on Jul 19, 2008 03:39 AM, Report abuse Reply

"It raises a more serious question which is, 'Can you trust these social networks to look after your data properly?'" Well, since we choose to offer our infomation, we also choose to accept the risk of something malfunctioning like this. If you are that worried about your info getting spread to anybody, then I dunno... hmmm.... don't post it?

by Tommy Barr, Flin Flon, on Jul 19, 2008 03:34 AM, Report abuse Reply

Exactly why i only give out info i wouldn't be concerned about being leaked i.e. i give my month and day but not year....

by Francine, Manchester, on Jul 19, 2008 12:36 AM, Report abuse Reply