Things you should know today: 3/27/18

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Universe Staff
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How Facebook was able to siphon off phone call and text logs

FILE – In this May 16, 2012, file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile device in Philadelphia. The news that Facebook’s Android app has been collecting call and text histories is yet another black eye for the social media giant. The social network acknowledged on Sunday, March 25, 2018, that it began uploading call and text logs from phones running Google’s Android system in 2015 – first via its Messenger app and later through an option in Facebook Lite, a stripped-down version of its main app. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The news that Facebook’s Android app has been collecting call and text histories is yet another black eye for the social media giant. But just why was Facebook able to siphon off records of who its users were contacting — and when — in the first place?

The short answer: Because Google let it. The longer answer: Well, it’s complicated.

Expert says Brexit campaign used data mined from Facebook

Alastair Grant
Whistleblower Christopher Wylie who alleges that the campaign for Britain to leave the EU cheated in the referendum in 2016, speaking at a lawyers office to the media in London, Monday, March 26, 2018. Chris Wylie’s claims center around the official Vote Leave campaign and its links to a group called BeLeave, which it helped fund. The links allegedly allowed the campaign to bypass spending rules. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The computer expert who sparked a global debate over electronic privacy said Tuesday that the official campaign backing Britain’s exit from the European Union had access to data that was inappropriately collected from millions of Facebook users.

House speaker hopes Russian hacker will be sent to America

Petr David Josek
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan arrives at the Czech Republic’s Parliament in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, March 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The speaker of U.S. House of Representatives says he hopes a Russian man who faces charges of hacking computers at LinkedIn, Dropbox and other American companies will be eventually extradited to the United States.

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