Facebook Does Not Know How To Manage User Data, Says Leaked Document

Meta-owned Facebook is reportedly unable to account for much of the personal user data under its ownership, including what it is being used for and where it is located.

Facebook is unable to account for much of the personal user data under its ownership. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Meta-owned Facebook is reportedly unable to account for much of the personal user data under its ownership, including what it is being used for and where it is located, media reports say. According to the tech website Engadget, privacy engineers on Facebook's Ad and Business Product team wrote a report last year, intending it to be read by the company's leadership. It detailed how Facebook could address a growing number of data usage regulations, including new privacy laws in India, South Africa and elsewhere.

The report's authors described a platform often in the dark about the personal data of its estimated 1.9 billion users, citing an internal report leaked to Motherboard, the report said. The engineers warned that Facebook would have difficulty making promises to countries on how it would treat the data of its citizens.

"We do not have an adequate level of control and explainability over how our systems use data, and thus we can't confidently make controlled policy changes or external commitments such as 'we will not use X data for Y purpose," the authors were quoted as saying.

"And yet, this is exactly what regulators expect us to do, increasing our risk of mistakes and misrepresentation," they added.

The report stated that Facebook's main obstacle to tracking down user data appears to be the company's lack of "closed-form" systems.

This comes soon after Meta is gearing up to launch its first retail store in the US with hardware products. The stores will also showcase Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses that debuted last year. The 1,550 square feet store will open in Burlingame, California, on May 9.