Journalist arrested for article on Facebook privacy flaw

Australian journalist Ben Grubb was arrested yesterday following the publication of an article he wrote about a demonstration of how to access Facebook photos even if they are protected by the right privacy settings.

The demonstration was performed during this year’s edition of the AusCERT conference by security expert Christian Heinrich, who demonstrated how he managed to to access the photos of the wife of another security expert.

The presentation has left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouth, since it is known that the two security experts have a history of not getting along. Heinrich’s actions have been judged as unethical by many, because he didn’t ask permission from the woman whose pictures he had accessed, and because the whole things smells like a private vendetta.

According to the Brisbane Times, Grubb has been arrested by the Queensland Police and has been brought in for questioning following a complaint lodged by a person whose Facebook photos protected by privacy settings have allegedly been accessed in the same way. Apparently, they thought the article offered enough details on how to carry out the attack.

Grubbs was taken in for questioning, and later released, but the police confiscated his iPad for further investigation.