Questioned by a US court, employees of Meta revealed the catastrophic management of the company’s data.
In a testimony unveiled this week, two engineers from Facebook spoke of serious malfunctions in the organization of the firm. Particularly worrying, the management of users’ personal data by the social network has been widely singled out.
It is almost impossible for Facebook to find your information
When asked in court where users’ personal information was stored, one of Meta’s senior engineers admitted, ” [qu’il serait] surprised if there was even one person who could accurately answer this question “. Visibly uncomfortable, Facebook employees had great difficulty answering the court’s questions, even the most basic.
As distressed as they are terrified, several data security experts were alarmed. Among them is Jason Kint, who heads the Digital Content Next organization and is among Facebook’s most vocal critics. He accuses Meta of having absorbed the data of billions of people » and leave « the real world dealing with the consequences “. Eugene Zarashow, the engineer interviewed, also admitted to having been terrified himself when he started working for the social network.
A spokesperson for Meta replied that the sophistication of the company’s systems was such that it was impossible for a single engineer to answer all questions about all the personal data stored. Which does not really provide any clarification in relation to Zarashow’s statement. The spokesperson added that Meta’s data protection system is one of the most advanced and that the company continues to invest in privacy obligations and data control.
Data security at Facebook, a problem that is not new
However, this is far from the first time that the American social network has been criticized for its cavalier, if not criminal, management of the personal data of its members. The very framework of these revelations is a cruel reminder of this, since they took place during a trial for which Mark Zuckerberg’s company was already in the dock. The lawsuit is tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which is named after the firm that siphoned information from millions of people through Facebook, then used it to create targeted influence campaigns in support of Brexit and Donald Trump.
Many events demonstrate Meta’s ambiguous relationship with personal data. In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg’s company had to reach an amicable agreement with American justice and pay a fine of $ 5 billion following several other data leak scandals.
Sources: Vice, The Parisian
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