Facebook Privacy - Part 2: Who else has access to your Info?

Last week I wrote a post about being in control of our privacy settings on facebook, which to my estimation shows how facebook views our privacy and the level of control it gives us.

Recently, again, I was browsing facebook and noticed something I have seen hundreds of times before but never really taken much notice of, until I remembered what I had written about earlier and it slapped me in the face - how had I not realised this all along?

What am I talking about? I am talking about Facebook Apps.

Yes, all those games we play on facebook, such as Farmville, Texas Hold'em Poker they all have unchecked access to our information, with our permission.

It is a curious thing though, I have to ask again; how much control do we have over our privacy on facebook?

When I wrote the last post on this topic the attention was given to securing our personal profiles from the eyes of the outside world, but, what if, knowing that we could control our privacy means we lower our guard? What if someone or something could get access to our information, unchecked by the way, at any time they wanted? Is this actually possible? Oh Yes it is, and I will show you how.

When you want to play a game on facebook the first thing you see is this:

So thoughtful, it even asks for your information! But have a closer look at the "basic information" it is asking you for:

"Includes name, profile picture, gender, networks, user ID, list of friends and any other information I've shared with everyone."

I don't know about you, but this if FAR away from "basic" information. The issue is, does facebook really give us control over how our information is used?

It is no wonder that without permission to use our information we cannot use these apps AT ALL. The message is: "No Info, No App"

So, the application creators are thoughtful enough to ask permission to use our information but they do not elaborate on HOW they will then use our information. When we click "allow" we are effectively giving them permission to do whatever they want with our information.

We again can control SOME element of this, but again, facebook do not make us aware of these issues.

It is important that we are aware of this fact: information is the currency of the day. Not the Pound, not the Dollar - information. For without information we cannot know how to strategise and market a product or service that enables us to make that pound or that dollar.

So the more we handle our information and how it is distributed is the more we can guard ourselves against being exploited by companies who may use our information against us for profit (targeted advertising).

SO how do you handle this situation? What do these app creators need with your information? Why do ALL of them need access to your information? I can answer the first question, but I have no answers for the last two.

Similar to handling your profile privacy, you start on the 'privacy settings' page:

As usual, the privacy settings for applications get small print, and little information about what it is designed for so who would know they have control over such things? 157 Application installs later, I have become aware of it.

But on checking the application settings page I found something that is even more intriguing and suspicious. In the first image  it depicts an application asking for basic settings, when you go into the application settings and click on any application you see this:

I was alarmed when I saw this, the applications ask for basic information but as you can see, with a little more investigation, the application now has access to EVERYTHING on my profile, and what's more, they are all REQUIRED.

What could possibly be so important about my photos, relationship status and friend information why a football based application needs access to them?

What does this tell you about how much privacy we really have, and exactly how facebook operates when our privacy is concerned. It appears, that unlike with your profile settings, you cannot make any configurations to applications i.e. stop them having access to your information. The ONLY way this is possible is by removing the application, and this means that in order to have full (presumed) control over your information it is best to have no applications, which in turn kills the fun of facebook.

Isn't facebook so smart?

At time of writing, 157 applications have access to ALL of my information, as I do not frequent facebook much, I will be removing all those applications. I would not say that you should do the same, but I write this to make you aware that, no matter what facebook says about privacy settings and privacy control, it appears we have NO control over our information no matter how careful we are and THAT is a scary thought.

The really worrying aspect here, is the fact that these apps have access to more than your "information", they have access to your life.

I can see why something like this could pass users by, the fact that the applications can bring enjoyment to a user can smokescreen the small (or large) business of having unlimited access to your information...for free. We are slowly losing control of our lives online without even knowing it.

It is the small things that make the difference in the world and this small thing could make the difference to you and your "personal life" online.

Here is a tip for life online and safeguarding your information: COMMIT TO NOTHING, QUESTION EVERYTHING.

That's all for now!

I'm going to feel like those old "be street wise" adverts when I say this, but Stay Safe Online!