Outrage over Facebook's Intrusive Forced Malware Scans

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
And now, there’s a new controversy brewing. WIRED has just reported that Facebook has been blocking some of its customers from accessing their feeds. That’s because they've begun to require users to run a malware scan on their computer, tablet, or phone. While once optional, it's now mandatory, and they decide when it should be done.

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WIRED cited the example of a Facebook user who was completely locked out of her account on February 11. She received a message requesting that she download the Facebook malware scan software tool for Windows if she wanted to get back into her account. Unfortunately, she was using a Mac. “I could not actually run the software they were demanding I download and use,” she says. When she logged in from her work computer, the same thing occurred.

In response to this issue, Facebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow explained, “Our visibility into each account on a given device isn’t complete enough for us to checkpoint based only on the device, without factoring in whether the particular account is acting in a suspicious manner.”

I’m not sure exactly what that means, but if they can’t detect your device, how do they know it’s infected? The other issue is that providing access to antivirus software exposes nearly everything on your computer, far more than what an app generally does.


Outrage over Facebook's Intrusive Forced Malware Scans
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Facebook can block you for anything they want. You don't have a Constitutional right to use Facebook. If you do not like their practices, stop using their free product.
 
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