Facebook gets poked in latest privacy gaffe

Oh come on!...

It is hilarious that Facebook has become the target of blowing everything out of proportion. Ok so Facebook has the most complex privacy settings architecture I have ever seen, I can only imagine so that it hopes you will miss changing one of these settings and allow the monster to make cash moneys out of your personal data, granted.

However, talk about blowing something completely out of proportion. Banner adds are provided the ID of the facebook account and it sounds like that ID was subsequently then used to scrape the details from the users page... Its easier than that for companies to get data, they just use the API.

BUT, If the settings are set to "Friends only" you get no personal details only the facebook ID which is useless to anyone who isn't a friend. Facebook is even kind enough to say your page doesn't exist, making it look like an error. Trying to get data through the API will result in no additional data as well, PROVIDED you have your privacy set correctly.

The ID is used to retrieve user data, don't get me wrong, that is the ONLY purpose for providing it to marketing companies. If your account is set to the adequate privacy settings though all these companies get is your Facebook ID.

And So It Begins

This is why I swore I'd never sign into Failbook ever again after spending about a day looking at it. Not only is it obvious that farming of personal data is what the site was created for, but it looked like a privacy/security failure waiting to happen.

Hopefully this event will trigger a backlash against the assault on privacy that sites like Farcebook have been leading for some time. Sadly, with users already too stupid to see what's going on in front of their faces, with their own personal details, I somehow doubt it.

Where's the Evil Zuckerberk icon?

BUT ....

"As part of our work to provide people with control over their information, we've learned that the design and operation of the Internet doesn't always provide the greatest control that is technically possible. "

This has been known since the first days of the internet. If you're designing stuff to run on in it's your responsibility to make sure your system is watertight !

It's a bit like standing in a blizzard in your shorts and sunglasses and saying "we're learned that the operation of the weather system dosn't always conform to our idea of summer."

Did you read the article?

"Worse still, the newspaper found that users whose profiles have rigorous privacy settings have also had their details exposed."

I removed all Facebook applications

I just removed every Facebook application. Why do the games and so on need my photos? In fact every application just wanted access to everything and did not let me remove the requirement. So, I have just removed about 20 apps. :) There must be a Zuckerburg with horns icon.

"Texas Hold'em Poker"

is as much a spam staple as Viagra.