Incident: Facebook Bug Causes Disappearance of Search History Tool

Published Date: 2013-04-03

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident of the sudden disappearance of Facebook's search history tool happened when a bug caused it to vanish, as reported on April 3, 2013, in Article 18327.
System 1. Facebook search history tool 2. User settings area 3. Bug that caused the disappearance of the feature 4. Graph Search feature 5. Functionality related to search history 6. Activity Log button 7. Search feature in the settings 8. Privacy settings regarding search result data
Responsible Organization 1. Facebook [18327]
Impacted Organization 1. Users of Facebook [18327]
Software Causes 1. The software cause of the failure incident was a bug that resulted in the sudden disappearance of Facebook's search history tool [18327].
Non-software Causes 1. The sudden disappearance of the behind-the-scenes search history tool on Facebook was caused by a technical glitch [18327]. 2. The absence of the feature in the user settings area was due to a bug [18327].
Impacts 1. Loss of access to the search history tool for Facebook users, impacting their ability to modify or delete their search history [18327]. 2. Potential privacy concerns as users were unable to manage their search history data during the software failure incident [18327].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough testing procedures before releasing new features or updates could have potentially prevented the software failure incident [18327]. 2. Conducting regular audits and checks on the functionality of critical tools like the search history feature could have helped identify and address any potential bugs or glitches before they impact users [18327]. 3. Providing more transparency in communication about the nature of the bug or glitch that caused the issue could have helped users understand the situation better and potentially mitigate any concerns or confusion [18327].
Fixes 1. Fixing the bug that caused the disappearance of the search history tool [18327].
References 1. Facebook's official statement to CNET [18327] 2. IDG News Service 3. CNET 4. Facebook's blog post

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident of the sudden disappearance of the search history tool on Facebook due to a bug has happened within the same organization. Facebook acknowledged that a bug resulted in the disappearance of the tool, and they mentioned that the bug has been fixed [18327]. (b) There is no information in the provided article to suggest that a similar software failure incident has happened at other organizations or with their products and services.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the article was related to a bug that caused the sudden disappearance of Facebook's search history tool. This bug was attributed to a technical glitch in the system, indicating a failure due to contributing factors introduced during system development or updates [18327]. (b) The software failure incident in the article was not directly linked to operation or misuse of the system.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident, in this case, was due to a bug within Facebook's system. Facebook acknowledged that a bug resulted in the sudden disappearance of its search history tool [18327]. The bug led to the absence of the feature in the user settings area, and Facebook confirmed that a technical glitch within their system caused this issue. The bug was fixed internally by Facebook, indicating that the failure originated from within the system.
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident related to non-human actions was caused by a bug in Facebook's search history tool, resulting in its sudden disappearance [18327]. (b) The software failure incident related to human actions involved the fixing of the bug by Facebook after it was acknowledged, indicating human intervention to resolve the issue [18327].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 18327 was not attributed to hardware issues. The incident was specifically mentioned to be a bug in Facebook's behind-the-scenes search history tool, which resulted in its sudden disappearance. Facebook acknowledged that a technical glitch led to the absence of the feature in the user settings area, indicating that the root cause of the failure originated in the software itself [18327].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in Article 18327 was non-malicious. Facebook acknowledged that a bug resulted in the sudden disappearance of its search history tool. The social network mentioned that a technical glitch led to the absence of the feature in the user settings area. Facebook stated that the bug has been fixed, and the functionality has been restored. There was no indication in the article that the failure was due to malicious intent or actions by individuals [18327].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) accidental_decisions (a) poor_decisions: The software failure incident related to the sudden disappearance of Facebook's search history tool was not attributed to poor decisions but rather to a technical glitch or bug. Facebook acknowledged the bug and mentioned that it led to the absence of the feature in the user settings area. The company did not elaborate on the nature of the initial problem but stated that the bug has been fixed [18327]. (b) accidental_decisions: The software failure incident seems to align more with accidental decisions or mistakes rather than intentional poor decisions. Facebook referred to the issue as a bug or technical glitch that caused the disappearance of the search history tool. The restoration of the functionality after fixing the bug indicates that it was an unintended issue rather than a result of deliberate decisions [18327].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. Therefore, it is unknown if the bug resulting in the disappearance of Facebook's search history tool was due to a lack of professional competence by humans or the development organization. (b) The software failure incident related to an accidental cause is evident in the article. Facebook acknowledged that a bug led to the sudden disappearance of its search history tool. The company mentioned that a technical glitch was responsible for the absence of the feature in the user settings area. This indicates that the software failure was accidental rather than intentional [18327].
Duration temporary (a) The software failure incident in this case was temporary. Facebook acknowledged that a bug led to the sudden disappearance of its search history tool, and they mentioned that the bug has been fixed [18327]. The functionality was restored after the bug was addressed, indicating that the failure was not permanent.
Behaviour omission, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the article is not related to a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. The incident described a bug that resulted in the disappearance of a search history tool on Facebook, which was later fixed [18327]. (b) omission: The software failure incident can be categorized as an omission where the system omitted to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). The bug led to the absence of the search history tool in the user settings area, causing users to not be able to access their search history as intended [18327]. (c) timing: The software failure incident is not related to a timing issue where the system performs its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. The incident described a bug that affected the availability of a specific feature rather than the timing of its execution [18327]. (d) value: The software failure incident is not related to a value issue where the system performs its intended functions incorrectly. The incident described a bug that caused the disappearance of a feature, rather than the feature functioning incorrectly when accessed [18327]. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident is not related to a byzantine behavior where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The incident described a bug that led to the absence of a specific feature, which was later fixed without mentioning inconsistent behavior [18327]. (f) other: The software failure incident can be categorized as an omission where the system omitted to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). The bug resulted in the sudden disappearance of the search history tool on Facebook, which was later fixed [18327].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property, delay Property: The software failure incident mentioned in the articles resulted in the sudden disappearance of Facebook's behind-the-scenes search history tool due to a bug. Users were unable to access their search history data for a period until the bug was fixed [18327].
Domain information (a) The software failure incident reported in the article is related to the information industry. Facebook's search history tool, which experienced a bug causing its sudden disappearance, is a feature that allows users to access and modify their search history on the platform, primarily dealing with information retrieval and management within the social network [18327].

Sources

Back to List