05/06/2010
Facebook hit with new security and privacy problems
As a tech blogger, I can count on a few things. Every day there will be something to say about Apple. And with almost as much regularity, Facebook will screw up something related to user security and privacy.
This week the popular social network has found itself besieged by these issues — one an intentional change to the way Facebook works, the other a major security bug.
The first involves a new way for applications to be added to your Facebook profile. Facebook has made it possible for some sites to hook into your profile if you use one of those ubiquitous Facebook sharing buttons on a third-party site. By simply clicking a “share this” button somewhere on the Web, you can suddenly find one of these sites (like the Washington Post or CNET) added to your profile without your approval or even knowledge.
The addition is automatic and there’s no easy opt-out mechanism.
MacWorld offers a convoluted system to get rid of these self-adding sites, but it’s not a walk in the park and it’s not permanent. Click a “Share” button again and the app will just come back. Per its story on the matter:
“To see a list of your current Facebook applications, click Account in the top right corner of Facebook, then select Application Settings from the drop-down menu. If you click on the Edit Settings link for one of the new applications, you'll always see one tab called Additional Permissions that has a box that's unchecked by default. Checking it will give that application permission to 'Publish recent activity (one line stories) to [your] wall.' Sometimes there is a second tab with an option to add a bookmark for that link to your wall. And a few apps also have a Profile tab where you can add a box to your profile for that site and pick a privacy level for it.”
For now, anyway, it looks like this “enhancement” is here to stay. There's really nothing to prevent this feature from remaining: Facebook isn't subject to any special law outside of what it pledges in its terms of service, and those terms can be changed at any time. If you want out, you will likely have to quit the service. Few probably will.


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