FaceBook app privacy scam

[azekeil]

Once again FaceBook users are taken for a ride by the "Compare People" app, whose developer is now attempting to sell access to all your results for a fee.

My policy is not to give away personal information to a third party where possible, especially not if it's in an easily mineable format. This is the main thing that makes me nervous of FaceBook and nearly all of its (3rd party) apps.

Plus, now I just get spammed with meme requests, which I can turn off for each individual app, but not globally just auto-reject new app request notifications.

Grr.

Comments

[theeighth.livejournal.com]

That's somewhat misleading though. Personal details aren't being handed out, and anonymity is being preserved.

What he is allowing is access to the information on how people compared you vs other people in their silly voting game.

In theory this information could then be corroborated against friends lists to determine who voted, but it would be tricky and relies on each flist having some unique friends not shared with any of their shared friends.

Blocking facebook apps that you dont' want, or tried and didn't like is just good practice though for anyone regardless. But this is hardly a huge privacy scam.

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

Ah, there is a clarification on the story on the original article.

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

I haven't even agreed to the global Facebook application agreement yet. The words in it and how they're arranged are just SCARY.