Facebook admitted late last week that some developers have sold user IDs (UIDs) to data brokers. The popular social-networking site said it has taken steps to prevent this in the future, including a six-month suspension of some developers.
In a post Friday on the company’s Developer Blog, Facebook’s Mike Vernal said the company has “discovered some instances where a data broker was paying developers for UIDs.” He noted that the developers were less than a dozen, mostly small developers, and that none of the apps were in the top 10 on the platform.
‘No Private User Data’ Sold
He also noted that some sharing of UIDs happened “inadvertently” due to “an issue with the way that web browsers work.” He added that no evidence was found that this “sharing” resulted in the collection of private user information.
Vernal said “no private user data was sold.” As this sharing or selling was a violation of company policy, the violators have been given a six-month suspension from access to Facebook channels and their data practices must be submitted to an audit that will confirm they are in compliance before they are allowed back.
In mid-October, The Wall Street Journal reported that many of the most popular apps on Facebook — including Farmville, Texas HoldEm Poker, Frontierville and Mafia Wars — were transmitting identifying information, including access to people’s names and, occasionally, their friends’ names, to dozens of advertising and Internet-tracking companies. Even Facebook users who had set their privacy settings to the strictest possible level were affected, the Journal said. The practice violated Facebook’s stated policies.
Last spring, Facebook was found by the Journal to be transmitting user IDs to ad companies, but later ended the practice.
Database Correlation
With a user ID, a user’s public information, including name, can be found. The Journal found that…