Facebook Apps Leaking Info

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that several popular Facebook applications have been transmitting users' personal identifying information to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies. Learn how to protect yourself.

Monday, October 18th 2010, 10:37 pm

By: News 9


The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that several popular Facebook applications have been transmitting users' personal identifying information to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies. Facebook said it is working to fix the problem, and was quick to point out that the leaks were not intentional, but a consequence of basic Web mechanisms.

"In most cases, developers did not intend to pass this information, but did so because of the technical details of how browsers work," said Mike Vernal, a Facebook engineer, in a blog post Monday.

In a statement, Facebook said there is "no evidence that any personal information was misused or even collected as a result of this issue."

Even so, some privacy advocates said it's problematic that the information was leaked at all, regardless of what happened to it.

Many people trust Facebook with tons of their data and personal information. If you're concerned about your personal information being leaked out when you use a Facebook application, for now, the most straightforward approach would be to disable your applications. To do that:

- Log onto your account.

- In the upper right corner, click on account.

- Choose privacy settings.

- Choose to edit settings for applications and website

- Choose to turn off

Learn more about Facebook security settings. 

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