Facebook App Users’ Information Reportedly Sent To 3rd Parties
Posted October 18, 2010 9:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Facebook says it’s working to fix a hole in its privacy protections after it was revealed its applications had been transmitting information to third parties that identify users.
An investigation conducted by the Wall Street Journal found that information was being shared with advertising and Internet tracking companies even though some users had set their information to be completely private.
Most data collection is done anonymously, but the WSJ found one data-gathering firm apparently merged the Facebook information into its own database, which it sells.
Facebook applications, which some use to play games and participate in polls, are often created and managed by independent software companies.
Facebook officials said they’re working on new technology to solve the problem. It’s not clear how long users’ information was being transmitted.
The WSJ claims users’ identification numbers were sent to at least 25 advertising and data firms.
