Facebook Developers admit that they sold User Ids to data brokers
November 2nd, 2010 - 7:59 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattNew York, Nov 2 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Social networking site Facebook has admitted that some of the website’s developers have previously sold user id’s to data brokers. The social networking site made the admission last week and revealed that the company has taken steps to stop the repeat of that. Facebook announced that some of its developers have been banned for up to 6 months for violating user privacy.
On the site’s Developer Blog, Facebook revealed that they have “discovered some instances where a data broker was paying developers for UIDs”. However the website was quick to add that none of the developers involved was a top developer and the apps that were found to be involved in the scheme were not in the top 10 apps of the website.
The revelation was initially sparked by the Wall Street Journal in the middle of October when they reported that some popular apps on the site were stealing user identifiable data and selling it to third party companies. Among the apps that were mentioned in the report were Farmville, Texas HoldEm Poker, Frontierville and Mafia Wars.
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Tags: admission, apps, blog, data brokers, developers, facebook, instances, mafia wars, nov 2, revelation, social networking site, texas holdem poker, third party companies, uids, wall street, wall street journal