Report: More than 400 million phone numbers associated with Facebook accounts leaked online.

An online server without proper protection was found to contain these leaked phone numbers, as disclosed by TechCrunch.

Facebook has stated that user accounts have not been compromised and clarified that the actual number of exposed phone numbers is about half of what was initially reported. The server where the phone numbers were stored lacked even basic security measures, being left accessible without a password or other security provisions. Of the 419 million exposed records, an estimated 133 million were linked to American users, according to TechCrunch.

A security researcher discovered the exposed phone numbers in plaintext, indicating no encryption was used to safeguard the data. It appears that this information was compiled by a third party and later exposed online. Following notification, the web host took down the database containing the users’ phone numbers. Facebook reassured users that this incident does not pose a threat to their data privacy. A spokesperson told Business Insider, “This dataset is outdated and seems to have been collected before we implemented changes last year to prevent people from locating others using phone numbers.”