Facebook bug exposed private posts of up to 14 million people - were you affected?

Facebook said the bug automatically suggested that users make new posts public
Facebook said the bug automatically suggested that users make new posts public Credit: AP

A Facebook software bug changed private posts settings of up to 14 million users regardless of their privacy settings, the social network has admitted.

Facebook said the flaw, which affected users over several days in May, had now been fixed. It is just the latest privacy debacle to hit the social network.

On Facebook, users can select whether to send posts out to "friends only" or to make them "public", which means anybody can see them. The bug caused Facebook to automatically suggest posts be free for the world to see, no matter what the user's preferred settings were.

Facebook chief privacy officer Erin Egan said the company was letting all users affected know starting on Thursday. He said...

Register or log in to view this and other Technology Intelligence articles. It's free and easy to do.