Data of millions of Dutch Facebook users leaked online

The private data of 533 million Facebook users have been leaked online. The leaked file contains data of 5.4 million Dutch users. 

Your name, phone number, place of residence, relationship status, employer, and sometimes your email address — this is all information that could potentially be found in the leaked database.

According to RTL Nieuws, the file contains data that had already been stolen in 2019 by abusing the function which allows Facebook to automatically look up your contacts. 

This was discovered by the website TechCrunch. At that time, Facebook said that nothing indicated that the phone numbers were being misused.

What’s the danger?

When such a leak occurs, the company in question is obliged to inform its users. However, with Facebook, this didn’t happen. 

“The main danger of this leak is that the data can be used for fraud, for example via WhatsApp. The more data such a scammer has on you, the more convincing he can make the message,” says journalist Daniël Verlaan.

Scammers can easily gain your trust by for example mentioning your name or employer in a text message.

Was my data stolen?

Dutch Facebook users can check whether their data was part of the leaked file by simply entering their first and last names into this tool. If any matches are found, the database will show the last three digits of the linked phone number. 

The developer of this tool, Joost Schuttelaar, states that he doesn’t store any data of Facebook users who use his software. This other tool uses Dutch and Belgian phone numbers to search the leaked database and also doesn’t store any user data. 

How do you feel about this leak? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash

Jana Vondráčková 🇨🇿
Jana Vondráčková 🇨🇿
Originally from the Czech Republic, Jana moved to the Netherlands for her studies. Seven years in the flattest country in Europe has brought her a Masters in Environmental Management, experience in content creation, projects, partnership coordination, and about 20 ideas on how to deal with Dutch winter blues (most of which didn’t work). Her love for the local cycling culture is undying — but she finally knows better than to hop on a bike in a typical Dutch downpour.

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