Are you inundated with unsolicited advertising of the spam variety? Ever wondered where the bastard gets your info from? If you’re a regular player of unfathomably popular Facebook games like Mafia Wars and the ubiquitous Farmville, they may be the source.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the games – and many other Facebook apps - violate Facebook’s privacy rules and regulations by transmitting user data to advertising firms. I’ve maintained that Farmville was and evil, evil thing – and it looks like it is indeed.
The report states that games like Farmville have been sending user data – including personal information, and the information of friends to "dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies," allowing the advertisers to build profiles, and do direct marketing.
Rapleaf and LOLapps, who develop a host of apps for the platform were named alongside Farmville makers Zynga in the report. According to Zynga the company "has a strict policy of not passing personally identifiable information to any third parties." Yeah, bullshit.
Read more, over at WSJ. Remember, it’s up to you to keep your information safe, plus it would also be awesome if people stopped spamming my Facebook wall with stupid apps.
Last Updated: October 19, 2010
Kingault
October 30, 2010 at 01:28
THOSE BASTARDS!