Another Privacy Scandal Rocks Facebook

Facebook users in France and elsewhere are complaining that private messages have been publicly posted to their timelines. However, Facebook says the rumors are false.

The story first appeared in French newspapers, including Metro. French Facebook users claimed that private messages dating back to 2007, 2008 and 2009 suddenly appeared on their timelines.

Facebook quickly dismissed the privacy complaints. “[The] messages were older wall posts that had always been visible on the users’ profile pages,” the social network told the BBC. “Facebook is satisfied that there has been no breach of user privacy.”

Facebook added more details when it explained to TechCrunch, “Every report we’ve seen, we’ve gone back and checked. We haven’t seen one report that’s been confirmed [of a private message being exposed]. A lot of the confusion is because before 2009 there were no likes and no comments on wall posts. People went back and forth with wall posts instead of having a conversation [in the comments of single wall post.]”

Separately, Forbes reported, “Facebook’s shares fell 9.1 percent yesterday to $20.79, the biggest drop in almost two months.”

The drop in share price is being blamed on an article in Barron’s which said the stock was “still too pricey.” Andrew Bary wrote, “What are the shares worth? Perhaps only $15.”