Facebook apps may be sharing more than you think

Consumer Reports News: May 10, 2011 03:08 PM

Find Ratings

Computers

In preparing our just-released report on online privacy and security, Consumer Reports editors looked closely at Facebook apps and the data they share. Here are some findings that may surprise you:

If you link a site like Huffington Post, CNN, or the New York Times to your Facebook account, you're using an app for that site. Every such app has access to basic information about you.

Some sites ask for access to more than the minimum information, however. For example, a Huffington Post app that one of our staffers had set up many months ago still had access to his family and relationships, photos and videos, and friends' information, such as birthdays and religious views. When he deleted the old app and signed up for the newest Huffington Post app, the new app requested access to far less information. (Hint: It may be a good idea to delete such apps once in awhile and reinstall them.)

When a staffer installed the iMovie app on an iPad 2 and gave it access to his Facebook account, it requested access to messages in his Facebook inbox and to be able to RSVP to events on his behalf. He was able to delete those privileges once he discovered the app had obtained them.