An investigation has found that certain Facebook apps are providing companies with personal information. This is despite what users set their privacy settings at and despite what Facebook says their regulations are.
“A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user’s Internet browser or by an application,” the spokesman said. “[Knowledge of an ID] does not permit access to anyone’s private information on Facebook. 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 study also found that the top 10 most popular apps were transmitting personal user data to outside companies, including Zynga’s FarmVille, Mafia Wars and FrontierVille. “This is an even more complicated technical challenge than a similar issue we successfully addressed last spring on Facebook.com,” a Facebook spokesman said, “but one that we are committed to addressing.”
Source: Wall Street Journal
