One of the most uneasy balances that Facebook has had to maintain is that of user privacy. The service’s new Open Graph API and protocol that comes with increased ability to integrate websites and web apps has great potential for both Facebook and its most intimate partners, but bringing in greater involvement with third-party sites raises even more privacy concerns that even before.
“In the past, apps that accessed data from the Facebook APIs could only store that data for 24 hours. This meant that apps and app developers would have to download user information day after day, just to keep up with the policy. Now the data storage restriction is gone, so if you tell an app it can store your data, it can keep it without worrying about what was basically an arbitrary technical hurdle,” writes Christina Warren. “While this might sound scary, it doesn t actually impact how developers can use user data, just how long they can store it. Again, many developers were just hacking around this policy anyway, so users shouldn t notice any changes.”
“Additionally, the new options will let users sign up for sites and see what friends are signed up. This does mean, however, that certain public pieces of information will be available in more spots.”
“I took a look at the different documentations of the Open Graph API and the different social plugins, and gathered that the data collection and overall privacy settings don’t differ from what has already been available. Again, what changes is how that data can be displayed to different people and how it can be integrated in different ways,” writes Warren. “Nevertheless, it is imperative that users who have concerns about privacy make sure they read and understand what information they are making available to applications before using them. Users need to be aware that when they ‘Like’ an article on CNN, that ‘Like’ may show up on a customized view that their friends see.”
“Ultimately, users are going to have to be more aware that being public with information means more than it used to. Facebook can help by educating users and sites can also tell users what information they are sharing.”
“Right now, it really doesn t look like Open Graph will have any technical changes to Facebook user privacy,” notes Warren. “That said, the nature of how public information can be linked across different sites is now more robust, which makes it that much more important for the privacy-concerned to read the fine print.”
Source: Mashable
