Facebook, MySpace in new privacy storm

THE Wall Street Journal is reporting a new privacy issue that could prove damaging for Facebook, MySpace and other social networks.

The WSJ reports that despite assurances to the contrary, social networks have been sending personal information about users to their advertisers without consent.

Included amongst the companies that are said to have received the data are Google’s DoubleClick and Yahoo’s Right Media. The data said to have been received includes usernames or ID numbers that can be traced back to individual profiles as users clicked on ads.

Data can potentially be used to look up personal information about users, including their real name, age, occupation, location, and any other details featured on their profile.

The WSJ suggests that Facebook went further than others in sharing identifiable data – news that could hardly come at a worse time, with Facebook currently in the throws of a privacy backlash.Google and Yahoo have strongly refuted that they ever make use of any such personally identifiable data.

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