Friday, May 21, 2010

Facebook and MySpace caught sharing secret data with advertisers...

Facebook, MySpace and several other social-networking sites have been sending data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers' names and other personal details, despite promises they don't share such information without consent.

The practice, which most of the companies defended, sends user names or ID numbers tied to personal profiles being viewed when users click on ads. After questions were raised by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook and MySpace moved to make changes. By Thursday morning Facebook had rewritten some of the offending computer code.

Advertising companies are receiving information that could be used to look up individual profiles, which, depending on the site and the information a user has made public, include such things as a person's real name, age, hometown and occupation. More...

Don't miss:

  1. Facebook founder feels the heat as privacy backlash rages...
  2. Facebook has gone rogue; it's time for an open alternative...
  3. Why I cancelled my Facebook account...
  4. Garrison Keillor has been "Unfriended." 
  5. Why you should delete your MySpace account...
  6. The Social Network, a movie about the seamy side of Facebook founder...

No comments:

Post a Comment