Can Facebook read this?

[Bloomberg] [Fully Charged]( From [Bloomberg](   [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]([Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  Hi, all. It's [Shira](mailto:sovide@bloomberg.net). I'm still catching my breath after a crazy day of stories about Facebook Inc. And there is no sign the company's perma-scandal will end anytime soon. First, there was news that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg [will testify](next week at a couple of Congressional hearings. (Mark your calendars for April 10 and 11.) Facebook [updated its data policy]( and proposed revised terms governing its relationship with users. And there was Facebook's revelation that account information from [up to 87 million people](was siphoned by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The volume of Bloomberg's Facebook news coverage Wednesday [couldn't be contained]( on a single Bloomberg Terminal screen. I want to talk about a Facebook disclosure that got slightly less attention. Sarah Frier [wrote]( on Wednesday that Facebook scans the links and images that people send each other on Messenger, the Facebook-owned app for private messages to friends or groups of friends. Facebook also reads the content of messages if they're flagged as potential violations of the company's rules. This disclosure stemmed from Zuckerberg's recent interview with Vox, which [asked him]( about the misuse of Facebook last year to [spread hateful propaganda]( against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. Zuckerberg explained that he got a phone call because the company had detected that "people were trying to spread sensational messages" via Messenger to stir up violence in Myanmar.  "Our systems detect that that’s going on. We stop those messages from going through," Zuckerberg said. Interesting. When I read that, I searched for Messenger's privacy policies and couldn't find anything that clearly spelled out whether Facebook can screen for the content of private Messenger communications. Sarah gave me the answer: Yes. Fear Gauge Facebook has shed about $90 billion in stock market value in recent weeks as investors digested the company's latest scandals Source: Bloomberg  It's likely that many providers of one-to-one messaging apps and online email do exactly this kind of scanning for incitement of violence, child pornography and other harmful material that people attempt to share privately. I'm sure many technologists and privacy diehards are well aware of these automated checks. But I bet not many mortals realize that the links, messages, photos, videos, and other communications they send privately to friends, family and other contacts might be run through computer systems to detect harmful behavior or other violations of a company's terms of service. (Public posts are another matter. Most people have learned that what they post publicly on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube can get them into trouble.) I want Messenger to detect when people are privately sharing photos that exploit children. I want Facebook to try to weed out malware or violent threats in my private messages. I think. But we've learned in the last couple of years that people haven't thought much about the potential drawbacks to the technologies they let into their lives. Whether we're fine with automated scans of private digital communications -- and trust that the companies make sure humans don't improperly snoop on those computerized scans -- is another debate we probably haven't had. The technology companies don't necessarily make it clear what their policies allow. I'm fairly tech savvy, and I initially couldn't find any information about Facebook's screening of Messenger. Facebook's updated [data policy]( now says, "Our systems automatically process content and communications you and others provide to analyze context and what's in them." Would a non-techie read that and understand what happens with private Messenger posts? As is typical, Facebook said it was making its policies more clear, but there is still a lack of clarity. -- [Shira Ovide](  And here’s what you need to know in global technology news: More [details emerged]( about the woman who is accused of shooting three people at YouTube headquarters, and killing herself. Nasim Aghdam had made YouTube videos, but she complained that policies of the Alphabet Inc.-owned company impaired her ability to generate advertising revenue from those creations.  It's hard for smartphones to stand out now that the mobile market is relatively mature. Apple Inc. is [working on]( touchless gesture control and curved screens for future iPhones, in a bid to differentiate its models in a crowded field.  The news cycle involving the U.S. president and Amazon.com Inc. isn't over yet. In a private dinner with Donald Trump, one of Oracle's CEOs criticized the bidding process for a Pentagon cloud-computing contract, and said [the outcome seemed rigged]( in favor of Amazon's AWS unit. The president made no indication that he would interfere in the bidding for the contract, which Oracle is also trying to win, people familiar with the matter said.  Lyft Inc. is testing a subscription service in more than two dozen cites, [hoping to lock in customers]( as competition with Uber Technologies Inc. heats up in the U.S.   Sponsor Content by Vivatech Viva Technology is the world’s rendezvous for startups and business leaders to celebrate innovation, in Paris. From May 24-26, 2018, Viva Tech will bring together the world’s brightest minds, talent, and products from across the globe for an immersive three days of panels, pitches and technology. With 25+ open innovation labs hosted by our partners such as BNP Paribas, Google, La Poste, LVMH and Orange, Viva Tech 2018 will also feature the first-ever European Startup Battlefield and Hacakthon sponsored by TechCrunch. Join us for 350 sessions with speakers such as Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO of IBM, Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco and Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. Viva Tech 2018 puts you in the driver’s seat to accelerate YOUR future. [Find out more](   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Technology newsletter Fully Charged. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022