Facebook on Thursday confirmed that it uploaded the contact details of 1.5 million new users without their permission in the last three years.
“The error was discovered amid a change to the sign-up process made in March,’’ Facebook stated in a publication by the US news website Business Insider.
The California-based social media giant said the details were not shared with anyone and are now being deleted.
“The mistake has been rectified and affected users are being informed,’’ Facebook added.
The company has seen a string of gaffes involving users’ sensitive information in recent years.
For example, posts from several million users who wanted them to be only viewable to their Facebook friends were shared publicly, making them visible to the whole world.
Business Insider broke the news about the mistake, reporting that in some cases, a new user’s the email address was inadvertently uploaded during the password verification process.
“Facebook removed the email password verification step from the sign-up process last month,’’ the company said in the statement.