The incident has shed light on the importance of data security
An unknown Facebook employee has been accused of potentially using work-granted access to stalk a woman online, prompting an investigation.
Security researcher Jackie Stokes tweeted a screenshot of what appears to be a Tinder conversation, showing the Facebook engineer bragging about being a “professional stalker”.
The allegations were sheared with Stokes, founder of security research firm Spyglass Security.
Writing online, Stokes said: “I’ve been made aware that a security engineer currently employed at Facebook is likely using privileged access to stalk women online.
“I have Tinder logs. What should I do with this information?”
The conversation the man says his job involves trying to “figure out who hackers are in real life” and added that she was “hard to find”.
In a statement issued to the press, Facebook said: “Although we can’t comment on any individual personnel matters, we are aware of the situation and investigating.
“We maintain strict technical controls and policies to restrict employee access to user data. Access is scoped by job function, and designated employees are only allowed to access the amount of information that’s necessary to carry out their job responsibilities, such as responding to bug reports, account support inquiries, or valid legal requests.
“We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, and improper behavior results in termination.”
Stokes added on Twitter that she would not be speaking to any journalists, saying that her source “deserves protection”. She also went on to praise all the Facebook employees who reached out to her personally to help – partially their chief security officer Alex Stamos.
In an age where information is so readily available, it’s essential to store data ethically. At our upcoming HR Tech Summit in Toronto, we will be discussing the morality behind handling AI and Big Data with some major industry players.
Check out the schedule and line-up here.
