WSJ: Facebook Apps Sharing Private Info

Farmtown And Others Guilty Of Sharing Info Says Report

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports FACEBOOK's gaming apps, "have been transmitting identifying information -- in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names -- to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies."

The report claims the issue even affects people who set their profiles to the strictest privacy settings.

"A FACEBOOK user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," a FACEBOOK spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on FACEBOOK," he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the JOURNAL.

"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 FACEBOOK official told THE JOURNAL.

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