Privacy Matters

Facebook seems unable to stem the user privacy spill. Matters seemed to grow more serious this week when the WSJ reported that apps (including Farmville) were accessing user data even if the users had requested the strictest privacy settings. Three of the top ten apps were transmitting data on the user’s friends to outside companies. The blog Ars Technica provided a rundown of the latest problems and what they mean. Facebook also had to temporarily disable LOLapps last week, after the apps were found to be sending internal Facebook user IDs to third parties.

Facebook’s privacy situation has reached the point where several blogs are wondering if the current Facebook business model is even compatible with current user privacy expectations. The blog 10 Golden Rules wrote that Facebook privacy is becoming an oxymoron and Mark Evans suggested that Facebook should just give up on privacy altogether; anything that goes onto Facebook should be regarded as fully public. A Google engineer has developed a Chrome plug-in that blocks all 3rd party access to Facebook data but another Google development demonstrated how the privacy line was still being drawn – Google had to discontinue the practice of using StreetView cars to collect Wi-Fi network data.

( This posting was originally done by http://www.whosbloggingwhat.com/ on October 21, 2010.