OLD PERSONAL DATA OF 533M FACEBOOK USERS LEAKED ONLINE

The telephone numbers and personal data of 533 million Facebook users have been leaked online, Business Insider reported.

Data including phone numbers, full names, location, email addresses, and biographical information have been posted online in a low-level hacking forum, according to the report, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) said.

The exposed data includes personal information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the US, 11 million on users in the UK, and 6 million on users in India, according to Business Insider.

Although already "a couple of years old," the data could be used by hackers to impersonate people and commit fraud, Business Insider said, citing security researchers. But Lily Shepherd, a Facebook spokeswoman, said in a tweet that

"This is old data that was previously reported on in 2019. We found and fixed this issue in August 2019."

When personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers circulates, the risk increases that people will fall for fake emails because they can be made more authentic, the firm warned. Facebook says it currently has 2.8 billion users who are active at least once a month.

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