Facebook admitted to reading users' private messages

Moderators of the social network Facebook scan personal messages of users in the Messenger application, Bloomberg reports.

The fire of the March scandal associated with the leak of personal data of 50 million users who ended up in the hands of the advertising firm Cambridge Analytica without their consent has not yet died down. Now a new surprise about visitors' personal messages being scanned has excited the public.

Facebook Inc. views images and links sent to each other on Facebook Messenger and reads chats. Bloomberg reports that moderators have access to users' private messages and review them to ensure that the content complies with the company's rules. If any violations are detected, the message is blocked or cancelled. According to employees of the social network, all text messages, links and images are subject to moderation in order to monitor prohibited or illegal content.

The company confirmed this fact after an interview with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which was published recently. Although Messenger conversations are private, Facebook tracks them using the same automated tools as the social network as a whole. The company believes that all content should adhere to the same "community standards." “For example, on Messenger, when you send a photo, our automated systems review it using photo matching technology, or when you send a link, we scan it for malware or viruses,” a Facebook Messenger spokeswoman said. 

The company says it is working to make its privacy policy clearer and does not use information obtained this way for advertising purposes.