Data From 87 Million Facebook Accounts Exposed

6 years ago · by Erin Carlson · 0 comments

Data From 87 Million Facebook Accounts Exposed

Facebook recently announced that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained information from up to 87 million accounts without their users’ consent. Experts believe that collected data could include locations, interests, photos, status updates and more.

Facebook applications and third-party services can normally request access to an account’s information in order to add functionality or advertise products. However, experts allege that Cambridge Analytica violated Facebook’s terms of service by using the data to direct political campaigns and influence voters.

These allegations have highlighted concerns about data security, social media privacy and Facebook’s data protection practices. In order to keep your personal information safe, it’s important for you to be aware of how it can be exposed and what steps you can take to ensure you control access to your data.

Timeline of Events

In 2014, University of Cambridge researcher Aleksandr Kogan created a Facebook personality quiz that gave him data on approximately 270,000 Facebook users. At the time, Facebook’s terms of service also allowed Kogan to access data on these users’ friends—a total of 87 million accounts.

Although Kogan told users that their information would only be used for research, he later worked with Cambridge Analytica to market the data to political groups. While many experts speculate that Cambridge Analytica’s clients used this data to direct political messages and influence voters, investigators have yet to confirm if or how the data was used.

Facebook learned that Cambridge Analytica possessed the data in 2015 and requested that all copies be deleted. However, in March 2018, a number of news sources reported that the consulting firm kept and continued to use at least a portion of the data for its business practices. As a result, Facebook’s data protection practices are now under investigation by regulators.

Protecting Your Data

Many social media users assume that their personal information is safe, but this scandal has shown the importance of re-evaluating online security. Hackers can use data posted on social media to engage in identity fraud, social engineering schemes and more. Here are some tips you can use to secure your data on social media platforms:

Check Facebook’s webpage about the exposed data to see if Cambridge Analytica obtained any of your personal information.
Go through all of the privacy settings on each of your social media accounts to see if the security features or terms of service have changed.
Always assume that any information you post online can be shared with the public.
Enable two-factor authentication on all devices and services that offer it.
Create strong passwords and update them regularly.

Call us at 831-661-5697 for more help staying safe online.

6 years ago · by Erin Carlson · 0 comments

Covered Establishments in All States Must Now Submit OSHA Electronic Reports

On April 30, 2018, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it will require all establishments affected by the electronic reporting rule to submit their 2017 data to OSHA by July 1, 2018.

This announcement clarifies the requirement for establishments in states with an OSHA-approved plan. These establishments must submit electronic reports, regardless of whether the state has ratified or incorporated the electronic reporting rule into its OSHA state plan.

Establishments in all states, including those with an OSHA-approved state plan, should prepare to submit electronic reports by July 1, 2018. Affected establishments can accomplish this by:

Becoming familiar with the requirements in the electronic reporting rule; and
Transitioning their OSHA records to an electronic format approved by the Injury Tracking Application (ITA).

OSHA Electronic Reporting

OSHA’s electronic reporting rule was issued in 2016. The rule requires establishments to report data from their injury and illness records to OSHA electronically if they:

Are already required to create and maintain OSHA injury and illness records and have 250 or more employees;
Have between 20 and 249 employees and belong to a high-risk industry; or
Receive a specific request from OSHA to create, maintain and submit electronic records, even if they would otherwise be exempt from OSHA recordkeeping requirements.

The electronic reporting rule applies to establishments, not employers. An employer may have several worksites or establishments. In these situations, some establishments may be affected while others are not.

To determine whether an establishment is affected, employers must determine each establishment’s peak employment during the calendar year. During this determination, employers must count every individual that worked at that establishment, regardless of whether he or she worked full-time, part-time, or was a temporary or seasonal worker.

OSHA-approved State Plans

The final rule required OSHA-approved state plans to adopt the electronic rule or “substantially identical” requirements within six months of the final rule’s publication date.

This means that OSHA-approved state plans have the authority to adopt reporting requirements that go above and beyond what is required by the federal rule. For this reason, establishments located in OSHA-approved state plan jurisdictions should consult with their local OSHA offices to make sure they are satisfying all electronic reporting requirements.

The OSHA-approved state plans shown on this map have not yet adopted the requirement to submit injury and illness reports electronically.

As a result, establishments in these states were not required to submit their 2016 data through the reporting website in 2017. However, OSHA has now clarified that they must submit their 2017 data in 2018.