Revelations in a Wall Street Journal report that the 10 most popular apps on Facebook have been transmitting the names of members and possibly those of their friends to "dozens of advertising and internet tracking companies" raises questions about the site's ability to safeguard personal information.
According to the report, the issue affects millions of Facebook members, even those with strict privacy settings. The social networking site said it was working to close any breaches and that its policy was clear "that no one can access private user information without explicit user consent."
A post on the Facebook Developers blog took issue with some of the reporting on the breach. "Press reports have exaggerated the implications of sharing a UID (user ID). Knowledge of a UID does not enable anyone to access private user information without explicit user consent. Nevertheless, we are committed to ensuring that even the inadvertent passing of UIDs is prevented and all applications are in compliance with our policy."
Discussion Questions: How do you think the Wall Street Journal report on the Facebook user ID breach will affect those who use the site? Will it affect those attempting to use Facebook as an e-commerce platform?