Facebook Apps Putting Users Privacy in Jeopardy - WSJ
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According to a report from the Wall Street Journal on Monday, privacy of Facebook users is being compromised by many of the most popular application on the world's most popular social networking Website.
The apps have been transmitting identifying information to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, an investigation by the Journal shows, adding that it is unclear how long the breach has been in place.
A Facebook spokesman told the Journal that the company is taking steps to "dramatically limit" the excess to the private information of its users.
"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said. "Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information."
The applications are software that allow the over 500 million users to play games or share common interests with each other.
The Journal report showed that all of the top 10 most popular applications were transmitting private information to companies, including Zynga's FarmVille, FrontierVille and Texas HoldEm Poker.
Most applications are not made by Facebook, but by third party developers.
The apps have been transmitting identifying information to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, an investigation by the Journal shows, adding that it is unclear how long the breach has been in place.
A Facebook spokesman told the Journal that the company is taking steps to "dramatically limit" the excess to the private information of its users.
"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said. "Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information."
The applications are software that allow the over 500 million users to play games or share common interests with each other.
The Journal report showed that all of the top 10 most popular applications were transmitting private information to companies, including Zynga's FarmVille, FrontierVille and Texas HoldEm Poker.
Most applications are not made by Facebook, but by third party developers.
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