Facebook privacy proves not so private...again

[marmar]

Tuesday - 3/1/2011, 1:09pm ET
Evan Haning, wtop.com


WASHINGTON -- Facebook is moving the boundaries of privacy again, with plans to give third-party developers permission to ask social network users for their home addresses and phone numbers.

For now, Facebook users will have to agree to developers' requests for their offline, personal information.

But privacy advocates and elected officials worry that Facebook is again encouraging people to share intimate information with friends, then allowing it to be sold for commercial purposes, the Huffington Post reports.

"(Scammers) might be able to impersonate you if they had your phone number. They're saying, 'Please give us your phone number,' but they're not telling you whether they'll share it or whether they'll sell it for malicious purposes," says Norman Sadeh-Koniecpol, a professor at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2290041

[drm604]

1. You can always refuse to give them your info.

My profile is totally locked down. Even the people on my friends list can't see my phone number, etc. And people who aren't on my friends list can't see anything beyond the fact that I have a profile.

[mimitabby]

2. right

there's no way i'm giving my address (even city) or phone number to facebook.

[speltwon]

3. Me too

No address, no phone #. Period.

[enlightenment]

5. Until Facebook has another 'security oopsie daisy'

and discovers - *shock* *chagrin* - that they have actually been allowing 3rd-party developers to gain access to your 'totally locked down' information for . . . months.

Ooops. We'll fix that. Until the next time we discover a gaping hole in our code that 'allows' those prying eyes to collect your information.

'Fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me'.

[drm604]

10. Not necessarily.

FB doesn't have anything except my name and email. They don't have my phone # or address so there's no way that anyone can see those.

[SoCalDem]

11. My kids laughed at me because I didn't even use my real name

I only signed up to see pics that one son had placed there, and never use it to post anything:)

[elias49]

6. You say friends can't SEE your phone #, etc

I infer that somewhere, somehow, your phone # had to be included in setting up an account, but that it was 'promised' that it wouldn't be revealed. Is that true? That your phone # is recorded somewhere?
I reject Facebook, much to the chagrin of my family and (some of) my friends, so I really don't know.
How's it work?

[drm604]

7. They ask for that information when you join

but you can always fake it or leave it blank. FB has nothing but my name and email.

[xxqqqzme]

8. I did that too.

Any 'friends' who want to contact me know how to do it or know who they can contact to get my phone number.

[wavesofeuphoria]

4. Facebook Privacy: 10 Must-Know Security Settings

http://www.pcworld.com/article/220444/facebook_privacy_10_mustknow_security_settings.html

Just FYI

[Gin]

9. security info given to me by a relative.....changed my settings..I check for the https now

FYI-While on Facebook, look at your URL address bar; if you see http (or nothing): instead of https: then you don't have a secure session and you can be hacked. Go to Account|Account Settings|Account Security and click Change. Check at least the first setting, FB defaults to the non-secure setting. Re-Post for your Friends!