Facebook said Thursday has made public by default messages posted by 14 million users for four days in May, the latest blunder for the social network that multiplies controversies over the use of data of its members.
"We've recently spotted a bug that automatically suggests posting messages created by some people," said Erin Egan, privacy officer at Facebook.
This error occurred while the group was working on a new way to share certain user profile items, such as photos.
She posted to the network from May 18-27, and Facebook was able to suspend the bug as early as May 22, but needed another five days to make all messages private.
"We solved this problem and started (Thursday) to warn all affected people and ask them to check all the messages they posted during this time," Egan said.
Some 14 million users are expected to see a notification when they log in to the social network to visit a separate page where they will be able to review the publications affected by the bug.
This problem comes at a time when Facebook is already entangled in several personal data cases.
The group has been heavily criticized since March for letting go of the data of tens of millions of users unknowingly to the firm Cambridge Analytica.
He again found himself pilloried this week after confirming that the Chinese phone builder Huawei, considered close to Chinese power and put on the bench of suppliers of the US military, was among the manufacturers authorized to use personal data. of its users.