In the first months of 2016 a number of European countries have stated that Facebook is behaving irresponsible when it comes to users’ privacy. Facebook disagrees. In the beginning of February the French data protection authority proclaimed that Mark Zukerberg’s social network must stop tracking non-users.

A similar decision was made in 2015 in Belgium, and the Dutch, Spanish and German authorities are also launching their own investigation of this matter. According to the research, Facebook has decided that every person that opened the social network’s website has agreed with its terms of service by default, even if these people were not logged in.

Facebook is spying on people in “the very same way” that the NSA does, said the Belgian data protection watchdog at a court hearing where the social network stands accused of violating the privacy of internet users.

The Belgian watchdog has filed a lawsuit against the social network, accusing it of breaching EU law and violating the privacy rights of internet users. The BPC issued a report, arguing that Facebook tracked everyone, even users who had logged-out and people who don’t even have a Facebook account at all, via the use of cookies and the ‘like’ or ‘share’ buttons which can be found on more than 13 million websites worldwide.

Three months ago, Harvard student Aran Khanna was preparing to start a coveted internship at Facebook when he launched a browser application from his dorm room that angered the social media behemoth.

His application was a Chrome extension that used data from Facebook Messenger to map where users were when they sent messages. The app also showed the locations, which were accurate to within three feet, in a group chat with people he barely knew. That meant complete strangers could hypothetically see that he had messaged them from a Starbucks around the corner, while he could see that they had messaged from their dorms.

ESET researchers have discovered a new, ingenious, yet very simple Facebook phishing scheme: playable Android games that, before they are started, ask users to enter their Facebook credentials.

The researchers found two such games on Google Play. Unlike some other Android malware, these apps did contain legitimate functionality they actually were real games in addition to the fraud. Both apps were developed by the same individual, and have been available for download on Google Play for months. But obviously not all those who downloaded the apps and tried to play the games have fallen for the phishing scheme.

Facebook's Internet.org project, which offers people from developing countries free mobile access to selected websites, has been pitched as a philanthropic initiative to connect two thirds of the world who don’t yet have Internet access.

The global digital divide should be closed and we agree that some Internet access is better than none. However, we question whether this is the right way to do it. There's a real risk that the few websites that Facebook and its partners select for Internet.org could end up becoming a ghetto for poor users instead of a stepping stone to the larger Internet. 

A class action lawsuit over alleged breaches of EU privacy law, mass surveillance and involvement in the NSA’s Prism snooping programme has been filed against Facebook in Vienna.

The lawsuit, which was officially filed in a Vienna court on Thursday, is being spearheaded by 27-year-old Austrian law graduate and privacy campaigner Max Schrems. The closely-watched case sees users suing the social network for various rights violations, ranging from the “illegal” tracking of their data under EU law to Facebook’s involvement with the US National Security Agency. Basically they are asking Facebook to stop mass surveillance.

Facebook founder and CEO hopes to bring his free internet security project, Internet.org, to Europe. The initiative has already been launched in some countries including India, and aims to connect people to the internet who are otherwise unable to access it.

But Zuckerberg hopes to roll it out across the world, Zuckerberg said in a question and answer session held on his Facebook page. In response to a question about whether the project would be rolled out “even in Europe”, Zuckerberg said that he did. Zuckerberg also addressed concerns that the project was undermining net neutrality by only offering “basic internet services” to its users.

Facebook tracks the web browsing of everyone who visits a page on its site even if the user does not have an account or has explicitly opted out of tracking in the EU.

The report was commissioned after an original draft report revealed Facebook’s privacy policy breaches European law. The researchers now claim that Facebook tracks computers of users without their consent, whether they are logged in to Facebook or not, and even if they are not registered users of the site or explicitly opt out in Europe. Facebook tracks users in order to target advertising. Facebook places tracking cookies on users’ computers if they visit any page on the facebook.com domain.

In classical mythology, Aquila is the eagle carrying Jupiter’s thunderbolts skyward. At Facebook, it is the code name for a high-flying drone, indicative of the social networking company’s lofty ambitions.

The V-shaped unmanned vehicle weighs less than a small car, is the centerpiece of Facebook’s plans to connect with the five billion or so people it has yet to reach. Taking to the skies to beam Internet access down from solar-powered drones may seem like a stretch for a tech company that sells ads to make money. Facebook is under pressure to show that it can pursue projects that are more speculative than product.

The British army is going to create Facebook warriors, good at psychological operations and use of social media to engage in unconventional warfare in the information age. The brigade will be responsible for what is described as non-lethal warfare. Both the Israeli and the army of the USA already engage heavily in psychological operations.

The force will attempt to control the narrative. The army will include reservists and regulars. Soldiers with journalism skills and familiarity with social media are among those being sought. The move is partly a result of experience in counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan.