Busted

Facebook Caught in Privacy Breach

Apps transmit personal info to advertisers.

Crops and cattle aren’t the only thing that FarmVille’s selling: The Wall Street Journal reports that many of the most popular Facebook apps transmit personal data to advertisers, even if users set their profiles to the strictest privacy settings. The Journal says the issue affects tens of millions of people; that all of Facebook’s top 10 apps are transmitting personal data, including Farmville; that the apps are in clear violation of Facebook rules; and that they are mostly providing access to people’s names and, in some cases, their friends’ names. Facebook said that it was developing new technology to close the breach that the Journal identified.