Facebook scan the photos and links sent by messenger, and read chats indicated

Bloomberg —

Facebook inc.Scan the links and images that people are sent on Facebook Messenger, and read the chats when they are marked for moderators, making sure that everything complies with the rules of the company that govern the contents.If these do not pass the test, they are blocked or deleted.

The company confirmed the practice after an interview with its executive president, Mark Zuckerberg, published this week, generated doubts about Messenger's practices and privacy.The executive told Ezra Klein, from Vox, a story about receiving a phone call related to ethnic cleaning in Myanmar.Facebook detected that some tried to send sensational messages through the Messenger application, he said.

"In that case, our systems detect what is happening," said Zuckerberg."We prevent these messages from spreading".

Some reacted on Twitter with concern: Facebook reads messages more generally?The social network has been under scrutiny in recent weeks due to its management of users' private data, and revelation played a sensitive rope.Messenger does not use data from scanned messages for advertising, the company said, but politics could extend beyond what Messenger users expect.

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The company based in Menlo Park, California, told Bloomberg that although Messenger conversations are private, Facebook scan and use the same tools to avoid abuses as in the social network in general.All content must meet the same "community standards".People can report certain publications or messages for violating these standards, which causes a review by the company's “community operations” team.Automated tools can also do that job.

Facebook escanea las fotos y enlaces enviados por Messenger, y lee chats señalados

“For example, in Messenger, when a photo is sent, our automated systems scan using photographs coincidence technology to detect known child exploitation images.When a link is sent, we scan it in search of malware or viruses, ”said a Messenger spokeswoman through a statement."Facebook designed these automated tools so that we can quickly stop abusive behavior on our platform".

Messenger used to be part of Facebook;In 2014, it was divided as a separate application.The other main chat application of the company, WhatsApp, encrypts both ends of its users' communications, so not even WhatsApp can see them.This has returned the safest application for users and more difficult for researchers.Messenger also has an encryption option, but users must activate it.

On Wednesday, the company updated its data policy and proposed new terms of service to clarify that Messenger and Instagram use the same rules as Facebook.

"It is better to explain how we fight the abuses and investigate suspicious activities, even analyzing the contents that people share," said the company led by Zuckerberg in a blog post.

Facebook is on the defensive after it was announced that, without consent, the private information of up to 87 million of its users ended in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, an political advertising firm.Zuckers.

Although the company is working so that its privacy policies are clearer, the gaps continue between what, according to them, is agreed by users and what users believe in reality having accepted.

Messenger scan systems "are very similar to those other Internet companies use today," the firm claimed.

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