Facebook lost some hard drives in a car break-in, but employees probably shouldn't worry here's why

In fact, the announcement is possibly a testament to Facebook's improved transparency on data protection issues, and the heightened regulatory obligations for telling affected people when their data could possibly be viewed by an outside party. It also illustrates how slow change can be in the cybersecurity sphere, since this type of theft, and the outrage it provokes, are so similar to other incidents that are decades old.

There have been a handful of cases where physical data theft has led to a genuine electronic data breach, however, but these are usually done with specific intent.

Computer equipment, smart phones and tablets are far more valuable when they are quickly scrubbed of their contents and sold illegally, either over the web or to a pawn shop or other broker. It follows that the Facebook equipment will probably have had the same fate, its contents wiped, any identifying stickers removed and then propped up for sale on eBay.

General Data Protection Regulation in that country calls for a 72-hour notification period, a provision that started earlier this year and represented an significantly expedited timeline for reporting breaches than ever before.

This has meant that Facebook in particular under the microscope as it is will probably continue to report every, single arcane and non-impactful security and privacy incident that it experiences as a company.