Facebook had ‘wild west’ approach to data security

A former Facebook manager has said he warned the company about its lax data security but was ignored.

Sandy Parakilas told MPs that the social media giant had a “wild west” approach to the issue.

He said he became concerned about the way data was being used by third-party application developers when he was employed there from 2011-2012.

Mr Parakilas, a former operations manager, said executives who are still at the company were made aware of his concerns but failed to act.

When asked if the company had “turned a blind eye because they didn’t want to face the truth”, he replied: “Yes, that was my impression.”

Mr Parakilas made his comments to Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee this afternoon.

The revelations come as Facebook faces increasing pressure to answer questions about exactly what was known about the data security scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica.

Cambridge Analytica is accused of using data from 50 million Facebook account holders which was obtained through a third-party application called ‘This Is Your Digital Life’.

It also alleged the data was then used in political profiling to aid Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

:: Zuckerberg ‘to break silence’ on Facebook data scandal

Mr Parapkilas was responsible for policing data breaches at the company for two years.

He told the committee he believed “the practices in my time were far outside what should have been allowed”.

At the time, he says, third-party application developers were only required to sign up to a set of rules about not passing on any user data.

They were subject to data audits from the social network, but Mr Parakilas told MPs: “I do not remember a single physical audit of a developer’s storage.”

Facebook changed its rules in 2014 to stop users’ friends’ data from being harvested by apps without their permission.

When asked what Facebook should have been doing differently at the time to protect users’ data, he said: “Deeper audits and more aggressive regimes.”

Mr Parakilas told the committee he believes the social network is now very different and has improved its systems.

However, he expressed disappointment at how the company has dealt with the Cambridge Analytica case since it was discovered.

Meanwhile, the social media trend #where’sZuck gathered pace before the Facebook CEO publicly addressed the scandal.

Company founder Mark Zuckerberg has admitted his company “made mistakes” over the alleged misuse of users’ data.

The social media giant’s chief executive posted a long statement on his Facebook page explaining the steps he has taken, and will continue to take, to protect users.

(c) Sky News 2018: Facebook had ‘wild west’ approach to data security