Fact Check

Facebook Look Back

Are the Facebook 'Look Back' profile mini-movies the work of a hacker?

Published Feb. 6, 2014

Claim:

Claim:   The Facebook "Look Back" mini-movie function is the work of a hacker.


MIXTURE


Examples:   [Collected via email, February 2014]


I heard that the new "celebrate Facebook's 10 year anniversary" by allowing Facebook to use your photos and posts to make a montage on your timeline is the work of a hacker and not Facebook. This allows the hacker to gain access to your computer and sensitive information. Is this true?

 

Origins:   Facebook "A Look Back" videos commemorating the tenth anniversary of that popular social networking site (#FacebookIs10) are legitimately associated with Facebook and not the "work of a hacker" created with malicious intent. The "Look Back" mini-movies are personalized features displayed to Facebook users via their newsfeeds, montages that may include various video segments, photographs and Facebook posts (depending upon how long the user has been on Facebook) which have proved to be popular during the course of Facebook's existence:



Depending on how long you've been on Facebook and how much you've shared, you'll see a movie, a collection of photos or a thank you card.

Facebook users initially see only their own "Look Back" videos on the Facebook "Look Back" page, but users can share those videos on their timelines for others to see as well, with those shared videos inheriting the user's default privacy settings. Shared videos will show up on the timeline with a "Here's my Facebook film. Find yours at https://facebook.com/lookback" message.

Although the "Look Back" feature is genuine and not the product of "hackers," it is the case that some look-alike sites which spread rogue apps or malware have been created; these bogus spoof sites mimic the original "Look Back" page to lure users into visiting them. Users should make sure they are visiting the legitimate Look Back site at https://facebook.com/lookback and not something that is similar but has a slightly different URL and/or that redirects to another site outside of Facebook.

Last updated:   6 February 2014

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.