Facebook to Share Addresses, Numbers with Third-Party Sites
Facebook is forging ahead with plans to give third-party developers access to members' information — from phone numbers to home mailing addresses, according to a letter sent from the company to Congress.
The letter written to Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) said it will grant users the ability to control which third-party sites could gain access to their private information.
Although Facebook initially launched the feature in January, it pulled back on the move amid concerns that members would be inundated with spam, identity theft and other issues.
"We got some useful feedback that we could make people more clearly aware of when they are granting access to this data," Facebook said in a blog post. "We are making changes to help ensure you only share this information when you intend to do so."
When accessing certain applications on Facebook such as FarmVille and Bejeweled Blitz , a page will pop up with a note from the third-party developer asking permission to access certain information. Facebook said in the letter to Congress that if users do not feel comfortable sharing the information the application is requesting, they can decline authorization.
In addition, Facebook launched on Tuesday (March 1) updates to the Comments Box plugin, which comes with a set of new tools, to make it easier for developers to customize the comments box on their own sites and get in sync with Facebook.
