Posted on 01/17/2011 1:24:40 PM PST by nickcarraway
Facebook made the announcement quietly at on a Friday evening before a holiday weekend -- that it will make its users' addresses and mobile phone numbers available to all Facebook developers.
Although users will still have to allow applications to access their address and phone numbers, AllFacebook reports that many users may not notice the new change. Nor does Facebook protect its users from malicious or spamming developers who may decide to load up malware and spamware on the site simply to gain information. From AllFacebook: Unfortunately, the developers plying the user graph objects include rogue applications, such as spamware, malware and deceptive schemes that security staff seems to have a hard time keeping up with. This category of n’er-do-wells can now gain access to people’s mobile phone numbers and street addresses. So we really hope the social network devises a way to bar the rogues from using this set of code, and if that’s not possible, then perhaps get rid of the entire thing before any damage could be done.
While that would be a great solution, it's an unlikely one. That Facebook has decided to give developers this information already shows a great lack of care for its users' privacy. Still others are more piqued by Facebook's seeming underhandedness. From InsideFacebook: One troubling fact is how Facebook announced this major change. Instead of in a dedicated post with mention of the potential risks, it was merely part of a weekly dispatch about bug fixes and migration deadline extensions — with no commentary on its impact. It was published on Friday evening of a three-day weekend, at 8:16pm PST, diffusing immediate feedback, and later the post’s time stamp was changed to 6:00pm. If people are going to trust that the site has their well-being in mind, Facebook needs to concentrate on mitigating risks for users, not minimizing backlash to itself. That's pretty weaselly, made even more so because Facebook declined to make a public announcement to the users it was planning to exploit.
If users want to protect their privacy, they must use less personal information (such as taking down or erasing phone numbers, addresses or e-mail addresses.) Facebook has shown it has no compunction in allowing others access to user personal data, so it's plainly up to users to prevent the spread of their information.
It is AMAZING what younger people will put on Facebook.
As far as Facebook goes once some numbskull populates their site with their own personal data then the data is Facebook property. Sweet deal for Facebook.
1. Don’t “allow” any sharing. Ever.
2. Don’t have valid, or any, information to begin with.
BTW, facebook thinks I’m 111 years old and use Esperanto as for native language.
FaceBook are weasels when it comes to your privacy, or ownership of uploaded materials.
“I’ve got your phone number and address”
Jokes on you. I used YOUR phone number and address
“The only reason I got one was to spy on my daughters. ;)”
I did the same thing with MySpace years ago, but didn’t give out any personal info.
Great tool for spying on your kids!
Pretty obvious, but not much you can do about that.
Joke’s on you. Robbers cleaned me out last week.
LOL, does your facebook have porn videos?
I deactivated / deleted my account. Is there more to do?
I am on Facebook, but I don’t have my address or phone number in my profile. I have only the information that is absolutely required (name and e-mail address). The only reason I’m on at all is to make viewing pictures of grandkids, grandnieces/grandnephews, and so forth easy. It’s also nice for messaging with family members, i.e. a list of the kid’s birthdays. (I do this only where I know someone will be on Facebook who only checks their e-mail once a month.)
Now, they often call me Speedo but my real name is Mr. Earl.
Also, the good old phone book was only generally available to those who lived in your area, while the world wide web, and consequently facebook, is available to anyone in the world with a computer.
You’re talking to the wrong low-tech guy.
I use my brother’s birth date for everything. Sure feels strange to get all those free hamburgers and appetizers and have wait staff sing happy birthday to me in Sept. instead of my real birthday month.
Well, in my case, you’d be shocked as hell when the hillbilly neighbor caps you for skulking around my house *or* the Dobe who ~won’t~ bark a “warning” rips your hand off when you stick it through the window.
[all of which is being recorded on interior/exterior surveillance cams, for my later viewing pleasure, of course]
:)
Nice touch ending that mayhem with a smiley face. LOL.
I’ve *never* had a published number since I left home and my parents never had one, either.
As far as someone flipping through a phone book is concerned, I simply don’t exist.
Mine says I was born in the 1800s.
I have no idea why.
Reckon they needed something to fill in that blank.
If you called my house when I was there, you’d get voicemai because I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t recognize. So you could assume I’m not home and try to break in, at that point you’d be wondering what that loud bang and big flash of light was, right before you died.
>>As far as someone flipping through a phone book is concerned, I simply don’t exist.<<
Yeah, but that was not true for most people. Otherwise, there never would have been a use for phone books. ;)
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