Facebook Suspends Personal Data-Sharing Feature

Suki I writes "Facebook has 'temporarily disabled' a controversial feature that allowed developers to access the home address and mobile numbers of users. The social network suspended the feature, introduced on Friday, after only three days. The decision follows feedback from users that the sharing-of-data process wasn't clearly explained and criticism from security firms that the feature was ripe for abuse."

Re:Well...

[scrib]

Actually, they can't. I don't have a landline, so I'm not in the phone directory.

They can, however, access public records and I got many letters congratulating me on my house purchase last year and offer to insure/protect/refinance my mortgage. They couldn't tell that I paid cash and don't have a mortgage which made their attempts to like like the were from someplace important all the more laughable. That was a minor nuisance, but at least they COULD NOT CALL ME! The fact that I own a house makes for pretty poor marketing data outside of pest control and lawn service fliers.

Facebook is a much richer and more intrusive source of advertising info. Primary email? Have some spam! Mobile number? IM offers! ASL? Creepy!
If I hadn't white-walled my facebook account already, this would have done it.

I agree that trading info for stuff is a perfectly valid market transaction. However, the user's information was being shared without the user's explicit consent and with no value to the user. I recognize that the USER isn't the OWNER of that information, facebook is, but I suspect most people don't realize that.
"You gave facebook this information?"
"Yes, but they are abusing it!"
"Do you understand the verb 'gave'?"

I simply do not trust facebook's application vetting process to work well enough to keep the information away from people with malicious intent.

Re:Facebook/Wikileaks

[Anonymous Coward]

Although it is a terrific quote, Julian Assange did not say that; rather, it was Bill Hader impersonating Julian Assange on Saturday Night Live.