Facebook Inc said a software bug gave outside developers broader access to the photos of millions of users, another privacy misstep by the world’s largest social network.
As many as 6.8 million users and up to 1,500 apps were involved, according to a blog the company posted on Friday. The bug has been fixed and Facebook is alerting people potentially affected. Shares of the social-media company fell as much as 1.7 per cent.
"We’re sorry this happened," Facebook said. "Early next week we will be rolling out tools for app developers that will allow them to determine which people using their app might be impacted by this bug. We will be working with those developers to delete the photos from impacted users."
Usually when a Facebook user gives an app permission to access their Facebook photos, the company only grants access to images shared on their timeline. The bug, which spanned the 12 days between Sept. 13 and Sept. 25, also affected photos uploaded to the site but not yet posted, the Menlo Park, California-based firm said.
This is the latest in a series of incidents this year that have eroded user trust, including a major breach in September.
The Irish Data Protection Commission said it is investigating Facebook after receiving a number of breach notifications from the company this year.
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