Facebook Facing Lawsuit for Scanning Users’ Private Messages for Likes

EVER THINK A SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE THAT IS CURRENTLY COUNTED AMONG THE WORLD’S TOP THREE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS WOULD STEEP SO LOW JUST TO BOOST LIKES OR FOR OTHER MARKETING PURPOSES?

According to reports, Facebook historically scanned private text messages of its users for identifying links to websites and treated them as Likes. We do know that Facebook often finds itself in hot water over its observation of user privacy but this time, the matter is far worse than what we may have presumed.

A lawsuit has already been filed against the social network in a Northern California District Court for violating federal privacy laws. Plaintiffs have accused Facebook of scanning the content of private messages of its users and if a link to any webpage is found in the conversation, the social media giant took it as a “Like” for that page from the user.

Plaintiffs can file for any further complaints or amendment in their existing complaint upto June 8.

Moreover, Facebook has been accused of using the data to compile profiles of the users and use them to initiate targeted advertising campaigns, according to The Verge.

As per the current certification that specifies injunctive relief, the accusers won’t be receiving any monetary reward no matter what the outcome of this lawsuit. On the other hand, if found guilty, Facebook would have to stop this practice.

A spokesperson for Facebook told Cnet, this practice was stopped a long time back by the social network and that:


“We agree with the court’s finding that the alleged conduct did not result in any actual harm and that it would be inappropriate to allow plaintiffs to seek damages on a class-wide basis. The remaining claims relate to historical practices that are entirely lawful, and we look forward to resolving those claims on the merits.”

It was identified by Plaintiffs Matthew Campbell and Michael Hurley that the company usually scans the URLs contained in the private messages for various purposes such as anti-malware protection and industry-specific searches to identify pedophiles or child pornography. However, this is just an alibi as the actual purpose of scanning these messages is to generate Likes. It must be noted that scanning and storing URL data in a searchable format breaches the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

The plaintiffs’ plea for technical analysis revealed that Facebook stores all the URL related messages in Titan, which is a database of private messages and displays the time and date on which the messages were sent as well as the IDs of the sender and recipient.

Twitter accounts are getting hacked and spreading adult content

MORE THAN 2,500 TWITTER ACCOUNTS HIJACKED AND TAKEN OVER BY PORNBOTS IN LAST TWO WEEKS!

The hijacking of over 2,500 Twitter accounts has suddenly become the talk of the town as everyone seems to be affected by the news. Maybe because the accounts hacked also include a majority of those that contained a large number of followers. After the hack, hackers modified the profile pictures, bios and full names of the users in order to popularize adult websites and replaced them with pictures of women in “a suggestive pose or wearing lingerie/swimwear.” The names also have been altered and substituted with other real names taken from a variety of forums.

Symantec, a security company, has provided the list of celebrities and well-known individuals whose Twitter accounts were hijacked by hackers. These include Chromeo, an electrofunk band, David Carr, late New York Times reporter, Cecil Shorts III, US Footballer and Azeem Banatwala, a stand-up comedian. The list also includes international reporters from The Telegraph.

According to Satnam Narang, Symantec’s senior security manager, this is indeed a preposterous way to popularize particular dating or pornographic sites. In his blog post, Narang wrote that: “Rather than tweeting or direct-messaging users, the attackers used these compromised accounts to like tweets and follow other users, hoping to capitalize on users being curious enough to investigate their Twitter profiles.”

The hijacking took place over a two weeks’ span and apparently pornbots have replaced them. Pornbots are actually intelligent software that repeatedly post sexually explicit and inappropriate content (read pornographic content) on these hijacked Twitter accounts. Moreover, these pornbots are also tweeting links to adult dating sites.

The hacking spree has turned out to be quite profitable for the hackers as they must have raked in $4 for every single user that registered on that website. That happened because users were automatically redirected and asked for registering to these adult sites. The aim of this hijacking was to compel users into clicking on the provided links that will take them to the adult websites. Narang told MotherBoard:

Sergio Disiapkan Main Lawan Madura United

Sergio van Dijk kemungkinan akan mulai bermain membela PERSIB Bandung pada pertandingan kandang saat menjamu Madura United di Stadion Si Jalak Harupat, Kabupaten Bandung, Sabtu (28/5/2016) mendatang.

Pelatih PERSIB, Dejan Antonic mengatakan, pada pertandingan itu, jika memungkinkan, Sergio tidak akan turun dalam waktu penuh. Sebab, pemain naturalisasi asal Belanda itu masih belum prima 100 persen dan perlu waktu adaptasi kembali dengan suasana barunya.

"Kemarin saya bicara dengan Sergio, katanya dia belum 100 persen dan main full time. Tapi mungkin dia baru bisa main 20 sampai 30 menit. Mungkin itu cukup untuk game pertamanya," kata Dejan setiba di Bandung, Minggu (22/5/2016).

Sementara Zulham Zamrun, dipastikan belum dapat diturunkan pada laga lanjutan TSC 2016 Presented by IM3 Ooredoo itu. Sampai saat ini, dia masih tahap pemulihan. Berbeda dengan Rachmad Hidayat, yang punya kesempatan tampil seperti Sergio.

"Rahmad sudah oke. Kita lihat dia bisa masuk ke tim minggu depan atau belum," ucapnya.

Dejan menanti datangnya tenaga baru dalam tim, karena beberapa pemain terancam akumulasi setelah mendapatkan kartu kuning pada laga kontra Persiba Balikpapan. Tidak hanya itu, cederanya pemain juga membuatnya harus mempersiapkan pemain lain untuk bermain.

"Kita ingin semua pemain siap untuk pertandingan, karena kita banyak pemain cedera dan ada pemain yang mungkin terkena akumulasi kartu karena kemarin wasit kasih banyak kartu untuk kita," ucapnya. ***

Dejan Agendakan Uji Coba

PERSIB BANDUNG mengagendakan laga uji coba dengan tim lokal di Jawa Barat sebelum tampil menghadapi Madura United, Sabtu (28/5/2016) malam. Pertandingan itu untuk melihat seberapa siap Maung Bandung tampil pada laga lanjutan TSC 2016 Presented by IM3 Ooredoo.

Pelatih PERSIB BANDUNG, Dejan Antonic mengatakan, uji coba itu dirancang untuk melihat kesiapan tampil para pemain yang masih minim jam terbang. Sebab, beberapa pemain kemungkinan menepi karena akumulasi dan cedera, salah satunya Robertino Pugliara yang mendapat tiga jahitan di kepala.

"Rencananya kita uji coba Rabu (25/5/2016), rencana lawan tim lokal. Kita mau lihat dan pemain siap untuk pertandingan, lihat banyak yang cedera dan akumulasi," kata Dejan setiba di Bandung, Minggu (22/5/2016).

Tim yang akan dihadapi diakui Dejan masih proses mencari, demikian juga tempat tandingnya. Tapi diharapkan, pertandingan uji coba itu dapat berjalan sehingga ada gambaran pemain-pemain yang siap tampil menghadapi Madura United, tidak terkecuali Sergio van Dijk atau Rachmad yang mungkin akan dipantau.

"Zulham mungkin belum bisa main, tapi Sergio mungkin main, Rachmad kita lihat perkembangannya," ucap Dejan. ***

Pugliara Dapat Dispensasi tak Latihan

Pelatih PERSIB, Dejan Antonic kemungkinan akan memberikan waktu istirahat untuk Robertino Pugliara. Itu diberikan supaya mempercepat penyembuhan luka sobek di kepala Pugliara, sehingga saat menghadapi pertandingan berikutnya dapat siap kembali 100 persen.

Pugliara akan diturunkan saat menghadapi Madura United, Sabtu (28/5/2016). Dejan ingin semua pemainnya dalm kondisi fit untuk bisa mengamankan poin penuh dan menempati posisi atas klasemen sementara TSC 2016 Presented by IM3 Ooredoo.

"Kalau Sabtu nanti kita bisa menang lawan Madura, kita bisa mendapatkan posisi di atas. Pertandingan kemarin terlalu panas dan kasar. Robertino kemarin langsung dibawa ke rumah sakit. Dia harus istirahat satu atau dua hari, hanya latihan ringan," kata Dejan setiba di Bandung, Minggu (22/5/2016).

Meskipun sudah memberikan izin, Dejan menyerahkan keputusan kepada dokter tim. Menurutnya, hasil pengobatan akan dilihat dari pemeriksaan dokter.

Pelatih asal Serbia ini menambahkan, pertandingan menghadapi Persiba Balikpapan banyak peluang tercipta, sayang hanya satu gol yang didapat. Satu poin yang didapat dari skor 1-1 ini tetap disyukuri oleh Dejan dan berharap laga berikutnya lebih baik.

"Kemarin anak-anak ingin menang, kalau menang kita bisa posisi satu atau dua. Tapi tidak apa-apa, satu poin oke," kata Dejan. ***

Vlado Nilai PERSIB Kurang Beruntung Lawan Persiba

Vladimir Vujovic menilai timnya hanya kurang beruntung karena gagal meraih kemenangan di kandang Persiba Balikpapan pada laga lanjutan TSC 2016 Presented by IM3 Ooredoo di Stadion Persiba, Sabtu (21/5/2016) malam.

Pemain belakang yang karib disapa Vlado ini mengatakan, selama 90 menit timnya hampir mengendalikan permainan. Namun sayang, Maung Bandung gagal mencetak gol kedua dan gagal meraih poin penuh.

"Kupikir kita mengendalikan permainan selama 90 menit, aku rasa kita kurang beruntung saja tidak bisa mencetak gol lagi," kata Vlado usai laga.

Meskipun gagal meraih poin penuh di kandang lawan, Vlado menilai timnya sudah jauh lebih baik dari laga-laga awal turnamen. Tapi, Vlado berjanji, pertandingan kedepan Maung Bandung akan lebih bekerja keras lagi dan merih poin penuh, khususnya di kandang saat menjamu Madura United pekan depan.

"Permainan tim ini mulai membaik dari awal kompetisi. Jadi saya pikir, berikutnya kita bisa lebih fokus untuk pertandingan berikutnya dan mencuri tiga poin. Mungkin dari dua laga tandang kita hanya mendapatkan dua poin, tapi setelah Madura United kita bisa mendapatkan hasil yang lebih baik lagi. Itu harapan saya," harap pemain yang sudah mengemas dua gol di TSC 2016 sejauh ini.

Pemain asal Montenegro ini pun menyampaikan maaf karena hand ball yang membuat timnya diganjar penalti. Dia mengakui, jika itu memang hand ball dan pantas diganjar penalti.

"Kau lihat dari awal, saya akui itu, saya mengangkat tangan saya, wasit kemudian meniup peluit. Kamu bisa lihat saya tidak melakukan komplain saat itu, saya hanya berusaha tidak membuat kesalahan," ucapnya. ***

Teacher’s Email Hacked, Distributes Porn to Staff, Students and Parents

DEAR TEACHERS, BE CAREFUL AND PROTECT YOUR EMAILS BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOUR STUDENTS ARE CAPABLE OF!

In January this year a gay teacher was fired from his job when someone hacked his email and uploaded his sex video with an adult male but now a student studying in the Highland Junior High School, Gilbert has carried out an act that is not only grotesque but also scary. Grotesque because what he has done is simply not expected from high school students and scary because it highlights the extent to which the minds of our youth has become plagued with hacking, porn and inappropriate stuff.

The news is that the student managed to hack and access the email system of one of the teachers at the Gilbert high school and in order to make use of the access, he sent out porn and similar inappropriate messages to students, staff members and parents of students, etc.

The Gilbert Public Schools have stated that the login information of the teacher was somehow obtained by the student and naturally he was inclined to use the opportunity and do something with it. This is why he emailed pornographic images to the people, reports KTVK.

The incident occurred over this weekend and has happened at a time when the school is already facing a controversy regarding its decision to purchase Chromebook computers for all the students.

According to a school board member Daryl Colvin, “the student was trying to embarrass the teacher.”

When this happened, the school’s technology department disabled the accounts of both the teacher and the student “quickly.” The FBI and the Gilbert Police department were both informed about the incident by Gilbert Public Schools.

The principal of the school maintains that the two messages were sent prior to deactivation of the account and that she was extremely “sickened by the horrible act.” As per a district spokeswoman, the school has already implemented measures to filter and block such unsuitable content, however, it seems that these “filtering and monitoring solutions are fallible.”

When the general public was asked to respond to this incident, a Gilbert resident April Pinger stated that her biggest concern was “students accessing porn. Now we see how inadequate the system is to filter out the pornography.” As per Colvin, it is indeed devastating that this incident can ruin someone’s life “but maybe it’s someone who’s a gifted hacker who doesn’t realize the consequences of what they did.”

The school has sent out letters to the parents who had received the inappropriate content. If you want to read the letter, check below: