Facebook says data on 530 million users 'scraped' before September 2019


FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken December 2, 2019. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Tuesday said a recently reported data leak affecting potentially 530 million users stemmed from a misuse of a feature in 2019 and that the company had plugged the hole after identifying the problem at the time.

Business Insider reported last week that phone numbers and other details from user profiles were available in a public database. Facebook said "malicious actors" had obtained the data prior to September 2019 by "scraping" profiles using a vulnerability in the social media service's tool to sync contacts.

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