ryantxr

Where I come from, we refer to someone who has a Big Mouth as a person who cannot shut up and cannot keep secrets.  It is not a term of endearment.  Facebook has been prominently in the news recently for sharing users' data with other partners.  Perhaps the data sharing was unintended.  However, that does not matter. 

Generally, people don't people like to share private information with organizations.  While there might be a concern that that the organization might misuse the information, the bigger concern is that the information will get leaked by accident.  That is the real concern.  If an organization says "We won't share your data.  We promise".  Someone reluctant to share that data is thinking the following:  "Sure.  I believe you don't *intend* to share my data."  The thing is that once the data is on a computer, it gets backed up on tape and stored deep in the bowels of a mountain somewhere in case of a nuclear war.  Tapes get lost in transit, get stolen.  Data gets mistakenly copied onto laptops and laptops are stolen in airports.  There are any number of scenarios where private data gets to places where it was not intended.

Which brings me to today.  A friend put a poll on Facebook and I found the topic interesting so I decided to vote in the poll.  Once I made my choice the following screen came up:

Now I must ask...

Does a poll application really need all my profile information, photos and friends info?

That is why I never use any Facebook applications.  This is outright ridiculous.  And the problem isn't the application.  It is Facebook.  Facebook gives the application everything.  The applccation has no choice about what data it can ask for.  At a minimum, Facebook should be giving applications a choice of what information they will request from the user.  A simple public or private will suffice.  An application that only wants your public data should be able to ask for only that.  And the above screen could reflect that choice.

Facebook made it easier for users to control which data is public and which private.  They implemented this in days.  Next they need to be looking at ways to have applications which don't require all the user data.  Hopefully that will be soon.

Over and out.