Memos: Facebook allowed kids to rack up huge bills on games, failed to address 'friendly fraud'
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook allowed children to rack up huge bills on digital games while the company rejected recommendations for addressing what it dubbed "friendly fraud," according to newly released court documents.The internal Facebook memos and other records were unsealed late Thursday to comply with a judge's order in a federal court case settled in 2016.The lawsuit, filed in San Jose, California, centered on allegations that Facebook knowingly milked teenagers by permitting them to spend hundreds of dollars buying additional features on games such as "Angry Birds" and "Barn Buddy" without their parents' consent.The documents show Facebook considered measures to reduce the chances of kids running up charges on parents' credit cards without their knowledge.
Woman who created nonprofit to rescue poodles dismayed after page shut down for 'nudity'
MILWAUKEE -- Facebook officials are stepping up efforts to crack down on illegitimate pages, but the creator of a nonprofit in the Milwaukee area said they've gone too far.
US Army looks to social media for Midwest recruitment
NDIANAPOLIS — U.S. Army recruiters in Indiana and other Midwestern states where recruitment has consistently fallen short are exploring other recruitment tactics, such as social media, as they try to convince young people to enlist.Data from the 3rd Recruiting Brigade shows that the group hasn't been meeting recruiting goals since 2012, The Indianapolis Star reported .
It's back: Facebook experiences massive outage for roughly 15 minutes
MILWAUKEE - It's not just you.
Facebook blocks 115 accounts ahead of US midterm elections
LONDON — Facebook said it blocked 115 accounts for suspected "coordinated inauthentic behavior" linked to foreign groups attempting to interfere in Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections.The social media company shut down 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram accounts and is investigating them in more detail, it said in a blog post late Monday.The company took action after being tipped off Sunday evening by U.S. law enforcement officials, who notified the company about recently discovered online activity, "which they believe may be linked to foreign entities," Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in the post .U.S. tech companies are stepping up security and efforts to fight disinformation campaigns as online troublemakers including Russian groups try to divide voters and discredit democracy.
Facebook 'unsend' button is in the works
CALIFORNIA -- Have you ever wished you could "unsend" a text?
How to check what Facebook hackers accessed in your account
NEW YORK — Could hackers have been able to see the last person you cyberstalked, or that party photo you were tagged in?
Facebook wants people to invite its cameras into their homes
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive.But it's unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record on protecting user privacy.Facebook is marketing the device, called Portal, as a way for its more than 2 billion users to chat with one another without having to fuss with positioning and other controls.
Facebook says attack exposed info of 50 million users
NEW YORK -- An attack on Facebook discovered earlier this week exposed information on nearly 50 million of the social network's users, the company announced Friday.The attackers exploited a feature that lets users see their Facebook page the way someone else would.
Facebook to notify 4 million people about latest data leak
The data of about 4 million Facebook users may have been misused by a third party app, the company announced in a post Tuesday.The social site has banned the app, myPersonality, and says it will be informing those people who chose to share their profile.
It wasn't just you... Facebook was down (if only for a few minutes)
MILWAUKEE -- It wasn't just you.
Facebook finds 'sophisticated' efforts to disrupt elections
NEW YORK — Facebook says it has uncovered "sophisticated" efforts, possibly linked to Russia, to influence U.S. politics on its platforms.The company says it removed 32 accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in "coordinated" behavior and appeared to be fake.The company says it doesn't know who is behind the efforts, but said there are may be connections to Russia.
Data belonging to 21 million 'Timehop' users may have been exposed in July 4 breach
MILWAUKEE -- Do you use the "Timehop" feature on Facebook?
Facebook to label election-related 'issue ads' in US
NEW YORK — Facebook is expanding its advertising disclosure requirements to cover all U.S. ads on polarized issues such as gun control and abortion rights, even if they don't endorse a particular candidate.Ads coming from specific candidates have already included a disclosure label since October.
Report: Cambridge Analytica, data firm at center of Facebook privacy debacle, closing its doors
NEW YORK — The data firm at the center of Facebook's privacy debacle is closing its doors, according to a published report.Cambridge Analytica has been linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Facebook rules at a glance: What's banned, exactly?
NEW YORK — Facebook has revealed for the first time just what, exactly, is banned on its service in a new Community Standards document released on Tuesday.
AP-NORC Poll: For many online Americans, Facebook is a habit
NEW YORK — Social media is a daily way of life for many Americans.Nearly half of Americans who use the internet say they use Facebook at least several times a day, making it easily the most popular social media site.
Exactly how private is your Facebook information? Ways to control it
Facebook has been all over the headlines lately, leaving many question exactly how private is your information?
Mark Zuckerberg testimony reveals lawmaker confusion on Facebook
WASHINGTON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged Wednesday that regulation of social media is "inevitable" and disclosed that his own personal information has been compromised by malicious outsiders.
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is working with Mueller probe
WASHINGTON — Apologetic Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told senators Tuesday it had been "clearly a mistake" to believe the Trump-linked data-mining company Cambridge Analytica had discarded data that it had harvested from social media users in an attempt to sway 2016 elections.Zuckerberg told members of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees that Facebook considered the data collection "a closed case" because it thought the information had been deleted.