Two Queer College Students Outed by Facebook

It seems Facebook is constantly updating its image, accessibility, and settings and yet its privacy controls seem to be a problematic area, putting the social media website under scrutiny.

Two gay students from the University of Texas in Austin were recently outed on Facebook due to loopholes that caused a breach in privacy, according to the Wall Street Journal. Here’s the loophole: anyone can be added to a group without the user’s approval.

The sexual orientation of two students was unintentionally shared by the president of their Queer Chorus group when he added them to the group’s Facebook page last fall. The add notified the student’s entire friend list and eventually the news traveled back to their parents, who did not receive the information well.

What did Facebook have to say about it?

"Our hearts go out to these young people," said a Facebook spokesman, according to the WSJ. "Their unfortunate experience reminds us that we must continue our work to empower and educate users about our robust privacy controls.