In recently released transcripts of a hearing on the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March, two Facebook engineers admitted they had no idea where Facebook stored user data.
The confession took place at a hearing by court-appointed special guru Daniel Gary, who was tasked with resolving the disclosure disagreement. Garrie asked the two engineers if they could pinpoint where Facebook stores users’ personal data. Engineers were unable to do so, raising further questions about the extent to which companies have user data and how it can be accessed.
“I don’t believe there’s a single person who can answer this question,” replied Eugene Zarashaw, Facebook’s director of engineering. “It took a huge team effort to even be able to answer that question.”
Garrie then asked how Facebook tracks user data associated with a given account. Zarashaw re-emphasized the complexities of recovering data.
“It takes multiple teams on the advertising side to track exactly where the data is going,” he said. “I’d be surprised if someone could finally answer this narrow question.”
The line of questioning is part of Facebook’s user privacy lawsuit, which was originally launched in 2018. As part of the lawsuit, the court ordered Facebook to hand over plaintiff data it held. Facebook complied, but only provided data that any user could access through the app’s “Download Your Info” tool, arguing that any data outside of that tool was outside the scope of the lawsuit.
In 2020, the judge disagreed with Facebook because it largely ignored the vast amount of data the social media company collects about user habits, inferences made, and any outside partnerships the company has. The judge said Facebook’s initial disclosures were too sparse and said it had to provide data it gained from monitoring users’ internet habits, as well as its monetized predictions about their next moves.
But, as the two engineers pointed out, the task is nearly impossible.
Engineers seem to be in charge of a machine that can hide things from the people who created it, or at least store things in places they don’t even know about. And, as Contributor pointed out, if the engineer doesn’t know where the complete user data is stored, there’s no way for anyone to be sure that the “Download Your Info” feature actually contains all of a given user’s data.
The problem, engineers say, is that as Facebook has grown, it has never bothered to create internal systems to understand where your data is going, what part of the system is using or storing it, and who has access to the system and that data. There’s no documentation on what exactly happens when Facebook takes possession of the data, because that’s not something the company has ever done.
“There are very few artifacts and diagrams about how these systems are used and what data actually flows through them,” Zarashaw explained.
When the Master seemed shocked by this, Zarashaw tried to reassure him.
“It was also scary for me when I first joined, anyway,” he said.
Jacob Seitz
Jacob Seitz is a freelance journalist from Columbus, Ohio, interested in the intersection of culture and politics.
I’m a dedicated content creator and researcher with a strong passion for technology, innovation, and digital culture. At Howh.net, I focus on delivering well-researched, accurate, and engaging articles that help readers understand complex topics in a simple and practical way. My goal is to inform, inspire, and make reliable information