‘It’s like pouring ink into a lake… it flows everywhere’: Facebook Doesn’t Know Where Users’ Data Goes, Leaked Documents Reveal…

by Alex Hammer at Daily Mail

• In a memo sent last year, engineers for the site pointed out flaws in its data management system, saying they can’t track where its 2.9billion users’ data goes
• The leak comes as the company has come under fire for collecting unwitting users’ personal information for purposes including advertising targeting
• The practice is currently automated, workers who wrote the memo revealed 
• The leak comes as the company continues to face scrutiny from privacy regulators over its handling of users’ sensitive information
• Staffers who penned the memo referred to the system as one with ‘open borders’ – one that doesn’t allow for careful management regulators have called for
• A Facebook spokesperson denied Tuesday that the document shows the company is not complying with mandated privacy regulations

Leaked documents have revealed that brass at flailing social media giant Facebook have failed to keep track of its nearly 3billion users’ personal data, as the Mark Zuckerberg-led company continues to face scrutiny from privacy regulators.

In an internal document obtained by Motherboard, privacy engineers for the site pointed out flaws in the site’s data management system, admitting they have no idea where its users’ data goes.

The leak was revealed after the company that changed its corporate name to Meta  came under fire for collecting unwitting users’ personal information for purposes including targeted advertising – a practice that is currently automated, workers who wrote the directive pointed out.

Staffers who penned the memo, which was sent within the company sometime last year, referred to the current system in place as one with ‘open borders’ – one that does not allow for the careful management regulators across the globe have been calling for.

‘We’ve built systems with open borders,’ the document, which asked brass at the company ‘to advise leadership on preparedness, investments and technology plans with respect to inbound regulations.’

The staffers, who are part of the Facebook’s Ad and Business Product team, went on to offer an analogy to managers to explain their concerns regarding the overflowing mass of data.

‘Imagine you hold a bottle of ink in your hand,’ the ad ops team wrote. ‘This bottle of ink is a mixture of all kinds of user data.’…