Facebook apologises for breach of online privacy

While the company stated that the Facebook user ID may have been inadvertently shared via a browser or an application, it assured its users in a public statement that the company would "introduce new technology to contain the problem".

According to Gregory Birge, managing director of F5 Digital Consulting, digital databases have always been at risk and a company must protect this information. “It is like a big bank which must firstly protect its consumer information,” says Birge. “Facebook is not a database. It is an interaction platform for friends. They should ideally not sell data. However, if they do plan to do so, it has to be protected, just like a bank would do.”

Large companies such as Sony or Amex who hire hackers to protect their own codes, exemplify that online information by and large is unsafe and open to hackers.

Birge says that while it is easy to point fingers at Facebook and suggest what they should have done and why it has happened, it is for us all to take this cue to wake up to the fact that data must be encrypted for internet transfer and safeguard against hackers. “While it is unfortunate, Facebook must ensure that it has a much tighter security measure because of its large database,” Birge suggests.