The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office confirmed last week the number of state residents who had their Facebook data shared without their knowledge.
In a news release, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said 2,960,311 Pennsylvanians’ Facebook data was shared without their consent with the third-parties. Facebook has said that more than 70 million users had their data shared improperly.
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The way Facebook’s policies worked at the time user data was shared allowed app developers to access personal data of users and their “friends” without their consent or knowledge.
“Nearly a quarter of the Commonwealth’s residents – 22 percent – had their personal data compromised by Facebook’s privacy breach,” said in a statement. “Social media users don’t expect to have their information given to third-party developers without their knowledge. Businesses like Facebook must take significant steps to better protect their users’ privacy and personal data. I’m leading a national investigation with my colleagues to ensure Pennsylvanians and Americans are protected from these kinds of unauthorized information sharing.”
Shapiro’s office said Facebook provided the number of Pennsylvanians impacted following a letter to the social network signed by Democratic and Republican state lawmakers. Shapiro and a number of other state attorney generals have requested answers from Facebook on their business practices and privacy protections.
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