Bangalore: In what could be another major privacy concern, Facebook announced that its users' addresses and mobile phone numbers would be available to application developers. It's the result of a minor change of settings on Facebook that expands the data people share with external websites and applications.
Although Facebook has maintained that the new changes do not provide access to a user's friends' addresses or mobile phone numbers, experts suggest that the changes would permit third-party apps and sites to see users' address and phone number via the standard permissions dialogueThe social networking giant has clarified that the move is intended to maximize convenience for its users by providing notifications of activity on the site. The new addition asks for access to the downloader's current address and mobile-phone number while downloading a third-party Facebook app. "We want to make it easy for people to take the information they've entered into Facebook with them across the web. This new permission gives people the ability to control and share their mobile phone number and address with the websites and apps they want to use," FoxNews.com. reported quoting a Facebook spokesman.
Commenting on the new development, the Internet security firm Sophos, in a blog post, advised the users to remove their home addresses and mobile phone numbers from Facebook.
Although Facebook has maintained that the new changes do not provide access to a user's friends' addresses or mobile phone numbers, experts suggest that the changes would permit third-party apps and sites to see users' address and phone number via the standard permissions dialogueThe social networking giant has clarified that the move is intended to maximize convenience for its users by providing notifications of activity on the site. The new addition asks for access to the downloader's current address and mobile-phone number while downloading a third-party Facebook app. "We want to make it easy for people to take the information they've entered into Facebook with them across the web. This new permission gives people the ability to control and share their mobile phone number and address with the websites and apps they want to use," FoxNews.com. reported quoting a Facebook spokesman.
Commenting on the new development, the Internet security firm Sophos, in a blog post, advised the users to remove their home addresses and mobile phone numbers from Facebook.
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