Meta lays off thousands, FTX collapses, and Twitter has a very weird week

Hackers are increasingly using ChatGPT lures to spread malware on Facebook

As public interest in generative AI chatbots grows, hackers are increasingly using ChatGPT-themed lures to spread malware across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. That’s according to Facebook’s parent company Meta, which said in a report out Wednesday that malware posing as ChatGPT was on the rise across its platforms. The company said that since March 2023, […]

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Meta improves its consumer-facing tool that explains why you’re seeing that ad

Meta improves its consumer-facing tool that explains why you’re seeing that ad

Meta today announced it’s making changes to increase transparency around ads. The company says it’s updating a nearly decade-old Facebook feature “Why am I seeing this ad?” to better explain to consumers how an AI technique called machine learning may have played a role in the ad’s placement, among other factors. Specifically, it will now […]

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Hacker finds bug that allowed anyone to bypass Facebook 2FA

Hacker finds bug that allowed anyone to bypass Facebook 2FA

A bug in a new centralized system that Meta created for users to manage their logins for Facebook and Instagram could have allowed malicious hackers to switch off an account’s two-factor protections just by knowing their email address or phone number. Gtm Mänôz, a security researcher from Nepal, realized that Meta did not set up […]

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Meta’s New Year kicks off with over $410M in fresh EU privacy fines

Meta’s New Year kicks off with over $410M in fresh EU privacy fines

Meta is kicking off the New Year with more privacy fines and corrective orders hitting its business in Europe. The latest swathe of enforcement relates to EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) complaints over the legal basis it claims to run behavioral ads. The Facebook owner’s lead data protection watchdog in the region, the Irish […]

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Meta’s first human rights report is largely self-congratulatory

Facebook parent Meta to settle Cambridge Analytica class-action lawsuit for $725M

Facebook’s parent company Meta has agreed a $725 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit related to the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal. First reported by Reuters earlier today, the deal follows nearly four months after news first emerged that Meta had proposed a settlement in the Northern District of California where the suit was […]

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Facebook is shutting down its live shopping feature on October 1

Facebook to now test age verification tech on Facebook Dating in the U.S.

Meta is bringing its age verification technologies to another of its products, Facebook Dating. Though the service has not taken off as a significant Tinder rival, it will now serve as the testing grounds for further experimentation with new age verification technologies, including video selfies and ID uploads, Facebook announced this morning. The company will […]

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Meta introduces Instagram Reels APIs for developers

Meta hit with ~$275M GDPR penalty for Facebook data-scraping breach

Facebook’s parent, Meta, has been hit with another hefty penalty for breaching European data protection law. The €265 million (~$275M) fine was announced today by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), the tech giant’s lead regulator for the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPC confirmed that the decision, which was adopted on […]

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Meta’s surveillance biz model targeted in UK ‘right to object’ GDPR lawsuit

Meta’s surveillance biz model targeted in UK ‘right to object’ GDPR lawsuit

Meta’s surveillance-based business model is facing an interesting legal challenge in the UK from an individual who’s suing over its continued processing of her data for ad targeting — despite her objection. The legal challenge — which is being brought by human rights campaigner, Tanya O’Carroll — is seeking a declaration that Meta is in […]

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Facebook Pay rebrands to Meta Pay as Zuckerberg details plans to create a digital wallet for the metaverse

Meta hit with antitrust breach order in Turkey for combining user data across Fb, WhatsApp, Instagram

Meta won’t be quaking at the size of the penalty it’s just been handed by Turkey’s competition authority, which announced a 346.72 million lira sanction today. The circa $18.6M fine pales in comparison to a number of recent stings hitting it from European regulators. Such as the $267M fine for WhatsApp in the European Union […]

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Meta’s legs update is not on the horizon yet

Meta’s legs update is not on the horizon yet

Meta’s Connect conference held earlier this week had announcements ranging from the new $1,500 Quest Pro headset to the company’s partnership with Microsoft to bring productivity tools to VR. However, probably one of the most discussed updates was that Meta is finally bringing legs to its virtual avatars. Until now, Horizon Worlds users — which […]

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