Facebook Breach Exposes Personal Data of Over 500 Million Users

April 6, 2021

A trove of sensitive personal data from more than 500 million Facebook users was posted online over the weekend, according to press reports. The leaked data includes names, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdates, location information, and biographical details. The original breach of personal data appears to have occurred in 2019. At least one privacy regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, has launched an investigation into Facebook's handling of the breach. The Commissioner's office said today that it had "received no proactive communication from Facebook" following the disclosure of personal data. EPIC has fought for transparency and accountability for Facebook's privacy abuses for over a decade, from filing the original FTC Complaint in 2009 that led to the FTC's 2012 Consent Order with the company, to moving to intervene in and filing an amicus brief challenging the FTC's 2019 settlement with Facebook.

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