Facebook served with government letter over user privacy
updated 06:15 am EDT, Tue October 19, 2010
House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus asks questions
Facebook has been asked to answer US Government questions regarding the way user data is handled through third-party apps. According to the Wall Street Journal, two members of the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus have asked Facebook to explain the way that “third-party applications gathered and transmitted personally identifiable information about Facebook users and those users’ friends.”
The latest concerns center on new revelations that apps are transmitting identification numbers for users and their friends to advertising and internet tracking companies. The strongly worded letter asks Facebook, and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, to detail how many users could be affected and what Facebook plans to do about the breach. Facebook has until October 27 to respond. A Facebook executive has informally commented that such data transmissions, while constituting a breach of Facebook guidelines, may have been inadvertent. [Photo: Getty Images]
