A quiet announcement late last month has left the future of Facebook in question. While it has become ubiquitous in many people’s daily behavior, once your personal information is let go to anyone who asks, it might be time to start thinking about how much you really like your Facebook page.
According to a recent article posted on the Huffington Post, Representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) have expressed concern over the policy but Facebook has confirmed that it will allow 3rd parties to request to access users’ addresses and phone numbers.
While Facebook’s Marne Levine, vice president of global public policy admits they are considering restricting this data sharing to only users who are 18 and over, it does not appear that this was part of the most recent policy change.
“We expect that, once the feature is re-enabled, Facebook will again permit users to authorize applications to obtain their contact information,” Levine is quoted as saying in the Huffington Post article.
Many say the changes mark two significant risks. One is that people’s information can potentially be accessed by scammers and spammers. The second is the underlying advocacy of Facebook for users to share their information they were once able to keep close control of. This is a sea change in data privacy that many are not necessarily ready for.
The darker side of this is your kids – are you certain you know what they are posting out there? Their phone number? Your address? It’s definitely worth taking a look – this can be a great learning experience for them to have the conversation about privacy, what to reveal and how to stay safe on-line.