Tech project manager and breast cancer advocate, Andrea Downing, started a closed Facebook group called BRCA Sisterhood to create a safe space for people to share information about their breast cancer experiences. Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 which affected the data of over 87 million Facebook users, Downing found a loophole in the privacy settings of closed Facebook groups that allowed marketers and developers to access membership lists, giving them the opportunity to exploit identifiable health information. Facebook has since changed its privacy settings after Downing filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Facebook for failing to fulfill its obligation to protect membership lists for health groups. Even so, the fact that the vulnerability ever existed is concerning to Downing, who is now advocating for safer online patient support platforms beyond Facebook. Read the full article here.