Facebook fires employee who used special access to stalk women

Facebook has fired an employee who used special access to the site to stalk women.

In an email statement to Global News, the social networking giant’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, said the company is urgently investigating the situation.

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“It’s important that people’s information is kept secure and private when they use Facebook,” the statement read.

Stamos also explained how Facebook determines which employees get access to information.

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“We have strict policy controls and technical restrictions so employees only access the data they need to do their jobs – for example to fix bugs, manage customer support issues or respond to valid legal requests,” he said.

“Employees who abuse these controls will be fired.”

The claim that a Facebook employee was abusing access was first made on Twitter Sunday by cybersecurity expert Jackie Stokes.

“I’ve been made aware that a security engineer currently employed at Facebook is likely using privileged access to stalk women online,” she wrote. “I have Tinder logs. What should I do with this information?”

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She posted a screenshot of a text message conversation, in which the unnamed individual described himself as a “professional stalker.”

The New York-based expert explained that she determined the individual was a Facebook employee by cross-referencing his Tinder and LinkedIn profile photos.

Stokes later tweeted that many Facebook executives reached out to her.

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“I’d like to thank the many Facebook employees who reached out to me personally to find out what they could do to help, and especially their CSO @alexstamos for deft handling of a dicey issue during a time when words and actions matter more than ever,” she tweeted.