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Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

techcrunch.com

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Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#111

Post by arunv »

Hey guys - I work on Timeline here at Facebook and just wanted to chime in here. I've looked into a bunch of cases today where people were concerned their messages were showing up, but as has been pointed out in many places (e.g. techcrunch), there was no privacy violation here.

If you've kept your old emails around (woohoo gmail!), one thing you can do is go back and look for the notification email you got for a particular post that you suspect was a message. There's a date search widget that makes this easier. I suspect you'll find it was a wall post.

Another thing to note (for those that follow our technology), is that the backends for these two systems are entirely different. The messages backend is hbase-backed, designed for real-time communication more than history. The timeline backend is MySQL / C++ backed. Migrating data from hbase to MySQL would have to take months of effort.

I know that even though there was no bug here, this can be an alarming experience to see old posts surfaced like this. We're working on ways to make this interaction clearer so people aren't so surprised in the future. That said, please rest assured that your inbox is not on your timeline.

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#112

Post by snippyhollow »

snippyhollow wrote: post #3
kennu wrote: post #2

So it's, again, people forgetting that they used to write wall-to-wall messages in 2009, and that they were always visible to friends?

Not at all, I can assure you I had my _private_ conversations disclosed.

I seem to be mistaken. However I was twice as stupid because I have hidden all these messages, and now I can't recover them on my timeline. I don't find them in my activity log (not under "hidden" nor "all"). Strangely, if I update my status and make it "hidden" in my timeline, it shows under "hidden" in the activity log...

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#113

Post by MartinCron »

tisme wrote: post #66
stephengillie wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This DOES seem to be anecdotally confirmed, but we're yet to see any screenshots of this. Pics or it didn't happen, folks.

Think about what you're asking for here. You are essentially asking to compound the error facebook made by making a screenshot of their private communications and posting it on yet another open forum. That's like asking a rape victim to show her bruises publicly or you won't believe it. Pics or it didn't happen applies to lots of stuff but when there are a lot of people with pretty good reputations making the exact s…

That's like asking a rape victim to show her bruises publicly or you won't believe it

I get the parallel, but still, the rape analogy feels tasteless and out-of-scale. May I suggest "that's like asking someone what their password is to prove that it was stolen"

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#114

Post by nkwiatek »

tisme wrote: post #66
stephengillie wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This DOES seem to be anecdotally confirmed, but we're yet to see any screenshots of this. Pics or it didn't happen, folks.

Think about what you're asking for here. You are essentially asking to compound the error facebook made by making a screenshot of their private communications and posting it on yet another open forum. That's like asking a rape victim to show her bruises publicly or you won't believe it. Pics or it didn't happen applies to lots of stuff but when there are a lot of people with pretty good reputations making the exact s…

You heard it here folks, an engineering bug that didn't actually happen is tantamount to rape. Perhaps we should stop referring to them alleged bugs and start calling them rapes. I'm sure the rape victims in the audience would love this idea.

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#117

Post by MartinCron »

arunv wrote: post #111

Hey guys - I work on Timeline here at Facebook and just wanted to chime in here. I've looked into a bunch of cases today where people were concerned their messages were showing up, but as has been pointed out in many places (e.g. techcrunch), there was no privacy violation here. If you've kept your old emails around (woohoo gmail!), one thing you can do is go back and look for the notification email you got for a par…

What a thoughtful response. I can imagine that you're having a very difficult day over there. Keep up the good work.

Personally, I'm sad that all of my private messages have been so mundane that if they got out, it would be no big deal. I just looked through and I didn't find any meaningful dirt at all. What a shame.

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#118

Post by tisme »

MartinCron wrote: post #113
tisme wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about what you're asking for here. You are essentially asking to compound the error facebook made by making a screenshot of their private communications and posting it on yet another open forum. That's like asking a rape victim to show her bruises publicly or you won't believe it. Pics or it didn't happen applies to lots of stuff but when there are a lot of people with pretty good reputations making the exact s…

That's like asking a rape victim to show her bruises publicly or you won't believe it I get the parallel, but still, the rape analogy feels tasteless and out-of-scale. May I suggest "that's like asking someone what their password is to prove that it was stolen"

You're 100% right, that was a bad call.

It was the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment but I should have thought about it a bit longer. The weirdness of the request is what angered me to the point of being careless with words.

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#119

Post by MartinCron »

AlexMuir wrote: post #38

If I could short FB I would do so immediately. The fallout from this is going to be immense and long-term. I'd imagine they are facing two choices at FB right now: 1. Take the site down and prevent any further leaks. But accept the absolutely massive flak that would come from that. or 2. Continue to let the leaking happen and try to hotfix the bug. Be accused of failing to get a handle on it, but perhaps get away wit…

If I could short FB I would do so immediately. The fallout from this is going to be immense and long-term

That makes me wonder if there is some malicious self-interest behind this. Here's the formula:

ubiquitous yet misunderstood personal technology + sensationalist media + power of suggestion + deliberate astroturfing campaign = sudden and immense drop in stock price.

Not that I actually think this is the case, but it wouldn't be outside the realm of the possible.

Re: Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines

#120

Post by mnicole »

jlgreco wrote: post #65
mnicole wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of what the actual situation is, if these posts are being brought to people's attention by friends because they seem sensitive and are now more prominent than they once were, isn't that a concern in and of itself?

Good point. Mass hysteria being used as a carrier for sudden bursts of clarity would be an interesting phenomenon in itself. Thousands of people suddenly realizing "Oh god, what have I been doing?" Edit: The more I read about this, the more it seems to me that this is what is going on. I think this has interesting implications for the "Privacy is dead" attitude. It suggests to me that, contrary to popular belief in s…

I wouldn't put this on the users' lack of clarity as much as I would blame Facebook for changing the course of it's features so much so that this is now happening to people. People were using the site as it was once intended and we can't blame them for being infuriated when the logic behind that usage changes. To me it's no different than Quora deciding to make all of your posts public without the chance to opt-in, except because of Facebook's privacy settings mess, it isn't easily reversible without severely crippling the content you've posted over the entirety of your account's lifespan.
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