[Maru]

Source: http://thehill.com/policy/technology...to-stalk-women

Facebook fires employee over allegedly using internal data to stalk women

Facebook has fired an employee for potentially using company data to stalk women online.

The company’s firing comes after Motherboard reported that the company was investigating an allegation that one of its employees was using internal data to stalk women.

The company said it is still looking into the matter.

“We are investigating this as a matter of urgency. It’s important that people’s information is kept secure and private when they use Facebook,” Alex Stamos, Facebook's chief security officer, said in a statement to The Hill.

“It’s why 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. Employees who abuse these controls will be fired,” he continued.

The allegations were initially flagged by Jackie Stokes of Spyglass Security, who tweeted about message she received about a Facebook engineer.

“I’ve been aware that a security engineer currently employed at Facebook is likely using privileged access to stalk women online. I have Tinder logs. What should I do with this information?” Stokes tweeted, including screenshots of the interaction in a subsequent post.

The incident comes just as Facebook announced that it is developing its own dating app to compete with services like Tinder.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-f...nology+News%29

Facebook employee fired over bragging about access to user information

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Thursday said that it fired an employee accused of bragging on matchmaking app Tinder about his access to private user information.

The incident comes as Facebook faces global concerns about personal data privacy, including Congressional hearings at which Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg testified.

A Twitter user earlier on Wednesday posted here about the Tinder conversation along with screenshots, saying Facebook's security engineer is "likely using privileged access to stalk women online".

In the unverified screenshot, the employee in question writes of being a “professional stalker” searching for hackers.

In a statement, Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos said the company quickly investigated the situation and immediately fired the person.

Access to sensitive data is logged, and the company has automated systems designed to detect and prevent abuse, Stamos said.

“Employees who abuse these controls will be fired — period.”

The firing was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.