Facebook privacy has been a recurring topic in the news. With the massive number of users on the site, the amount of personal data involved is enormous. Recently, it has been revealed that many popular third-party apps, mainly games like Farmville and Texas HoldEm Poker, are leaking the unique Facebook ID that can track individual users.
According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, several Facebook apps have been providing advertisers with information that makes social networking users easily identifiable. All ten of Facebook’s most popular apps, including Farmville and Texas HoldEm Poker, are leaking the unique Facebook ID number to outside firms. Each Facebook ID is unique and linked to every profile. By searching for this number, anyone can access the user's profile and view the information they have chosen to share with the public. This can include their name, date of birth, and even photos.
Farmville, with 59 million users, also passes this information about a user’s friends. The WSJ reported that at least 25 firms were receiving these Facebook IDs and using them to build profiles of web users, and in some cases, even track their web browsing activities. It's unclear if the developers were aware their apps were leaking this data.
This issue has gained significant attention because the WSJ reported on it in "Facebook in Privacy Breach." It seems that with the data leaked by these apps, combined with some good old data mining, advertising, and marketing companies can build comprehensive databases about individuals on the Internet.
This is not a new problem for those who have been following the issues Facebook has been dealing with, partly exacerbated by their own lax default privacy settings. It's a paradox because, for a service like Facebook, the more data they collect, the more valuable they are. Yet, everyone is concerned about privacy but still uses Facebook.
Millions of Facebook users have been affected, even those using the social network’s strongest privacy settings. It also breaks Facebook’s rules concerning privacy, which state that app developers cannot pass on users’ data to outside firms, even if the user has given permission.
Facebook admitted that a user’s ID "may be inadvertently shared by a user’s internet browser or by an application" but insisted that this "does not permit access to anyone’s private information on Facebook." Third-party developers are usually responsible for developing these apps. Facebook has stopped users from accessing several apps thought to have been leaking personal data.
"We have taken immediate action to disable all applications that violate our terms," Facebook said. The WSJ named RapLeaf as one of the developers using Facebook IDs in its own database and passing them on to several other firms.
Facebook claims they will address these issues by introducing new technology. This might involve using one-time passwords (OTPs) or some token access for the applications, allowing users to use the apps without revealing any personal info, including the Facebook ID.
However, it's uncertain how games like Farmville would track your progress and link to your account without using your Facebook ID.
Source: Network World
