Facebook Offering Big Rewards To Users Who Spot Data Breaches

Facebook has launched a new program that will give monetary rewards to users who could identify data breaches on its platform. The rewards that Mark Zuckerberg’s company is offering could go as high as $40,000.

Head of product security Collin Greene published Tuesday a post on Facebook’s newsroom that details the company’s new Data Abuse Bounty program. According to Greene, the program is intended to reward people who can spot and report data breaches of app developers on Facebook’s platform.

“Today, Facebook is launching the Data Abuse Bounty to reward people who report any misuse of data by app developers,” Greene wrote. “The Data Abuse Bounty, inspired by the existing bug bounty program that we use to uncover and address security issues, will help us identify violations of our policies.”

The new program will offer monetary rewards ranging from $500 to $40,000 depending on the severity of data breaches uncovered. People who are going to report cases of data breaches should provide solid proof in order for them to receive rewards.

The program specifically targets Facebook platform apps that collect and transfer user data to another party to be sold, stolen or used for scams or political influence, according to Greene. The team behind Facebook’s new program will go over all legitimate reports and respond as quickly as possible when a credible threat to user data is identified.

Facebook is punishing developers who are violating the company’s policies. The social media giant will shut down the offending app and take legal action against the company identified to be selling or buying Facebook’s user data. All users who may be affected by the breach will also be notified about the issue.

The launch of the Data Abuse Bounty program comes the same day that Zuckerberg started testifying before Congress regarding the possible lapses of Facebook in handling user data and securing privacy of its users. It also comes at a time when Facebook is doing its best to appease users by implementing stronger privacy policies following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as per MacRumors.