[WovenTales]

The most unsettling part is in Facebook's response: “We’ve heard that when accessing their information from our Download Your Information tool, some people are seeing their old videos that do not appear on their profile or Activity Log. We are investigating.” Who wants to bet against their investigation being “how to keep users from seeing it.” Anyone?

[jlmorton]

I honestly don't understand this cynicism. Facebook does not want your deleted video, and they certainly don't want to keep it given the current media frenzy, with the CEO under fire.

Every application of any complexity has features which inactivate, but don't delete data. At Facebook scale, deleting data is non-trivial, and it would be impossible to immediately delete something.

We all have bugs, including extremely critical security bugs, availability-threatening performance bugs, or many other types of bugs. It's strange that we accept those bugs as merely bugs, without assuming a backdoor, or intentional sabotage, but when it comes to personal data, suddenly it's a nefarious plot. It's an odd position to take that Facebook is not only saving these deleted videos intentionally (for what, exactly?) but that they'll now lie to us and pretend to delete them, but only remove it from their Download Information tool.

Kudos to Facebook for even having such a tool.

[benwilber0]

I agree with you.

At Facebook-scale the data is massive -- far bigger than anyone here could possibly comprehend and that includes the Facebook and Google-ers lurking around.

Data has incredible inertia. And when there's a lot of it, in a lot of different places, I can imagine that it becomes very difficult to keep track of.

I'm glad that Facebook's data export tool included some things that maybe it didn't expect to.

[CapacitorSet]

>I can imagine that it becomes very difficult to keep track of.

The GDPR prompted them to make the data resurface, so it's not impossible to track this data given a few months of warning. It's just that Facebook as a company does not have an interest in deleting data they collected.

[schrep]

No - we've had the download your info feature since 2010 (https://techcrunch.com/2010/10/06/facebook-now-allows-you-to...). There is just a lot more public scrutiny now of what's in there - which found this bug.

[mattnewton]

If it’s too hard to do properly maybe they shouldn’t be doing it /shrug

[gnulinux]

Can't understand why you're downvoted. If you can't handle the data you collect, maybe you should collect that data in the first place? Or invest in technology, hire more engineers to handle the data you collected?

[donatj]

Don’t allow users to delete things?

[anf]

Don't gather data you can't manage it ethically.

Facebook has a responsibility to protect user data they have collected, and if they can't then they shouldn't.

[kumarvvr]

After delaying informing users of their data being handed over to third party services and keeping quiet for 3 years, some cynicism is warranted.

[oculusthrift]

they had to have the tool for gdpr. not because they are good guys

[tristanj]

The Facebook download tool has been around since 2010. It's not correct to suggest they created this in response to GDPR.

[icebraining]

You're right that it's not due to the GDPR, but existing EU law already required them to provide all user info on request. See Max Schrems' work, specifically his 2011 complaints to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, and the subsequent Europe v. Facebook case.

http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Objectives/objectives.html

[lucb1e]

> Facebook does not want your deleted video

Oh, most certainly they do want that video. Their business is knowing who we are and what drives us, so they can target those ads better. That's what makes their shareholders money.

That the people working there are human beings who might consider it immoral to keep deleted material, is what most people rely on when using such services... but being kind is not Facebook's goal.

[skybrian]

It's upsetting that the bug exists in the first place, but there's nothing unsettling about this response. Have you ever reported a bug to an Internet company before? What do you expect them to say?

[pishpash]

It's no bet. The investigation results in a ticket for another intern to add "WHERE deleted = 0" to the download tool.

[rmc]

EU Data Protection Law requires that users are entitled to view all personal data (yes that includes videos) that FB has on them.

In May the EU will be able to fine FB up to 4% of global revenue for breeches of this law. Popcorn time!

[procinct]

Great idea! I'll make an FB app for that ;)

[samstave]

Apparently the walls on the garden weren’t high enough - and the sappers are the real culprits!!