What you need to know about the Facebook data leak

Variants are pushing covid cases back up in the US

Sponsored by Quantic The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Facebook's data fiasco 04.07.21 Good morning! Today: what you need to know about the Facebook data leak—including whether you've been affected, and how variants are pushing cases back up again in the US. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. What you need to know about the Facebook data leak   The news: The personal data of 533 million Facebook users in more than 106 countries was found to be freely available online last weekend. The data trove, uncovered by security researcher Alon Gal, includes phone numbers, email addresses, home towns, full names, and birth dates. Initially, Facebook claimed that the data leak was previously reported on in 2019 and that it had patched the vulnerability that caused it that August. But in fact, it appears that Facebook did not properly disclose the breach at the time. It only finally acknowledged it on Tuesday April 6 in a blog post by product management director Mike Clark. How it happened: In the blog post, Clark said that Facebook believes the data was scraped from people’s profiles by “malicious actors” using its contact importer tool, a feature which uses people’s contact lists to help them find friends on Facebook. It isn’t clear exactly when the data was scraped, but Facebook says it was “prior to September 2019.” One complicating factor is that it is very common for cyber criminals to combine different data sets and sell them off in different chunks, and Facebook has had many different data breaches over the years (most famously the Cambridge Analytica scandal). Why the timing matters: The General Data Protection Regulation came into force in European Union countries in May 2018. If this breach happened after that, Facebook could be liable for fines and enforcement action, as it failed to disclose the breach to the relevant regulators within 72 hours, as the GDPR stipulates. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is investigating the breach. The timing is also significant in the US, because Facebook signed a deal two years ago which gave it immunity from Federal Trade Commission fines for breaches before June 2019, so if the data was stolen after that, it could face action in the US, too. How to check if you’ve been affected: Although passwords were not leaked, scammers could still use the information for spam emails or robocalls. If you want to see if you’re at risk, go to haveibeenpwned.com and check if your email address or phone number have been breached.  We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Some SERIOUSLY impressive dance skills on display on a train in NYC.   + An orchestra of over 100 musicians takes on "Fear of the Dark" by Iron Maiden—all played from home.   + Mirrors in an Australian salt lake provide an amazing view of the sky.    + Recipes for hearty vegetarian meals. And why not treat yourself to a Vietnamese egg coffee?   + Even if you only have a few minutes spare, you can still get the mental and physical benefits of working out. (NYT $) Sponsor Message Quantic School of Business and Technology Executive MBA The #ModernMBA is here. Quantic is the world's only accredited, mobile-first graduate school that's educating the next generation of business leaders. Join a global network of entrepreneurial professionals in science, tech, and business — including over 300 managers from Google, Apple, and Amazon. Head to quantic.edu to apply and access over 40 free courses. Sign up now, applications close soon. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Variants are pushing covid cases back up in the US The rapidly speeding up vaccination program will help to quash another wave—but vigilance is still required too. (NYT $)   + Biden has moved the deadline for all US adults to be eligible for the vaccine to April 19. (CNN)   + We need to be wary of vaccine distribution algorithms. (The Next Web)   + An AstraZeneca trial in children has been paused due to blood clot concerns in adults. (The Times $)   + Brazil's daily covid death toll has topped 4,000 for the first time. (Axios)   + The world needs to learn from covid before diving into a pandemic treaty. (Nature)  2 One in three severe covid survivors are diagnosed with a mental health condition The most common was anxiety. (The Guardian)   + We need to do more to prepare for a mental health crisis among survivors. (TR)  3 Clearview AI's facial recognition tool is already surprisingly widely used This searchable database lets you check if your local police department is using it. (Buzzfeed)   + AI can't detect our emotions. (OneZero $)   + See how unscientific emotion recognition AI is for yourself with this game. (The Verge)   + Yet another Google AI researcher has quit. (Bloomberg $)   + A Utah government AI audit found… no AI. (VentureBeat)  4 The grand ambitions behind China's digital currency It's trackable, programmable—and could eventually rival the dollar internationally. (WSJ $)   + A bitcoin investor and a skeptic make their cases. (The Verge)   + Bitcoin mining emissions in China are set to hit 140 million tons by 2024. (New Scientist $)  5 The number of billionaires went up by 30% during the pandemic 💸 And they individually became much wealthier too. (Recode)   6 The internet never forgets Not a problem—until it reminds you of things you don't want to remember, like a canceled wedding. (Wired $)   7 What we lose when Facebook groups replace local news  In short: fact-checking. (NBC)   8 This robot lizard can scale walls  Take that, Boston Dynamics. (WP $)   9 Inside India's missed call craze 🤙 Until relatively recently, a lot of Indians effectively used their cellphones like pagers. (Rest of World)   10 Two actors brought an AI-written script to life 🎭 And the results are… mildly horrifying. (Vice) Not an expert? Not a problem. Our team is full of those. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review today for an insightful look into technology for the future without getting bogged down by the jargon. Quote of the Day "It’s a nuclear reactor that has set off a chain reaction and is out of control. It’s a biological Fukushima." —Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University, tells Reuters that covid deaths in Brazil could exceed the toll in the US. Top image credit: Associated Press Please send missed calls to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Leading a forever-changed workforce Join us virtually | June 8-10, 2021 Register now   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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