How Your Friends Can Expose Your Facebook Data

Do you want everyone on Facebook to see your status? Your information may already be getting shared via another area deep in privacy settings called “Application and Websites.” Many users aren’t aware that there are privacy settings called “Application and Websites” or even “What your friends can share about you” which dictates what your friends can share about you whether or not they realize it. Depending on which friends ‘like’ and comment on your status others on Facebook or friends of friends may be able to see your information.

If you go under Privacy Settings, then to Applications and Websites there is a setting called “What your friends can share about you.” If you visit this you will see there is a list of fields that may or may not have boxes checked that clearly state was information is being shared through your friends. This can open up your notes, photos, birthdate, religious information exposing various levels of data that you may or may not be aware to adjust.

Of course the best advice is to not have anything put any information in your profile you wouldn’t want easily accessible online. Given the fast changes that seem to be rolling out more frequently some people have even taken to deleting their profiles. Between the risk of hacking, like Blippy’s recent exposure of credit cards via Google and Facebook Mobile Web which is usually unstable maintaining one’s Facebook privacy settings should start to become routine like frequent tune-ups. Imagine your grandma seeing your status about last night’s epic times because your brother or sister ‘liked’ your status. Think hard, then double check what you are comfortable with “What your friends can share about you.”

Privacy>Apps and Websites

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1408814 Comments2010-05-11+23%3A20%3A16Ellie+Cachette »

I deleted my gender. FB only knows me as "their". Kept asking me to choose between "his" or "her".

Comment by Guest — May 11, 2010 @ 4:12 pm
This page within Facebook's privacy settings is unclear. If I don't want any of the listed information shared, do I check the boxes, or do I leave them unchecked?

Comment by MrRichPeoples — May 11, 2010 @ 4:15 pm
"Depending on which friends ‘like’ and comment on your status, others on Facebook or friends of friends may be able to see your information."

Unless I've completely misunderstood something, the page you're describing here has no effect on whether non-friends see your status, regardless of likes or comments. Whether someone can access your status depends on the privacy setting for that status. If your friend uses an application that you have not used and that app requests data from Facebook about you, the page described here can limit what data the app receives. As far as I know, that is the page's only purpose.

@MrRichPeoples: Check a box to allow sharing, uncheck a box to prevent sharing.

Comment by theharmonyguy — May 11, 2010 @ 7:49 pm
True, it's not only about the information you provide yourself to Facebook but also the data you share with your friends. Revoking access has a negative impact on the user experience of your friends: You don't show up with your face, name, or whatever you denied in their applications.

Still quiet popular is the application "Birthday calendar" – revoking access to the birthday and/or name makes it impossible to work.. so, you might receive less birthday greetings from your online pals.

But don't forget: Even if you can control the information shared by applications your friends are using, you cannot control which information is posted by your friends themselves to Facebook.

Comment by René Reineke — May 12, 2010 @ 12:17 am
And what to do about it? Check or uncheck the boxes?

Comment by Lisbeth Jacobsen — May 12, 2010 @ 1:19 am
Yes, the page is not clear. I am honestly under the impression that Facebook is doing all in its power to steer people away from privacy and toward exposure, even while giving the illusion of "options."

Comment by Chana — May 12, 2010 @ 5:39 am
I'm with MrRichPeoples: Neither the page in facebook nor this article state whether checking the boxes activates or deactivates these items.

I'm assuming I should leave the unchecked and thus unactivated, but if someone knows otherwise, please share.

I'm suspicious of facebook for not stating this clearly on that page.

Comment by Sensible Seamstress — May 12, 2010 @ 6:43 am
You check it…you own it!

Comment by EA — May 12, 2010 @ 9:30 am
I recently wrote a similar article on my blog too: http://bit.ly/a99lyP Short of deleting my Facebook account, I have tighten up my privacy settings.

Thanks to Facebook's new privacy policy and Open Graph API, it got me thinking about stuff I am sharing online via social media. I learnt of 2 friends who lost their jobs becos' they 'whined' about work on Facebook.

By default, Status Updates can be shared by friends. I unchecked that box leaving only Videos, Links, Notes, and Photos available to share. I have no 'adult' material on my profile so I guess it's fine.

Comment by Nicholas Ong — May 12, 2010 @ 4:03 pm
"Between the risk of hacking, like Blippy’s recent exposure of credit cards via Google"

Blippy was not "hacked," they are simply incompetent – they inadvertently made users' credit card numbers appear on regular, everyday Google search.

See:
http://venturebeat.com/2010/04/23/blippy-credit-c...

Comment by Bjorn — May 12, 2010 @ 4:22 pm
Scary – even when you think you have your privacy set, any new changes to the interface can expose your previously private content. There is no such thing as 'private' on the Internet. Best bet is to realize that anything online can and will be shared.

Comment by Jody Raines — May 13, 2010 @ 11:11 am
As bad as facebook is getting, spokeo.com is a lot scarier for me. At least with facebook it's all information that I at some point chose to put there.

The information on spokeo….they gather…from I don't even know where.

I may have managed to remove the information about me…it had old phone numbers (haven't had the same one for long in years) old addresses, e-mail addresses…listed places I had worked! I looked up my husband and they have pictures of him, me, and even his sister! Pictures that none of us has ever published online before.

So, yes, facebook is screwing a lot of things up…but personally….I think this spokeo site is worse.

Comment by Freya Alexander — May 14, 2010 @ 2:20 am
Spokeo.com does nothing illegal, it’s just …sleazy-feeling and maybe unethical, depending on your ethics. But it’s VERY similar to what Facebook has done.

With Spokeo, there are two issues there:

1) I never “signed up” for Spokeo, and yet there’s a “Profile” there of me. That’s just sleazy-feeling.

2) The profile pulls in and aggregates all kinds of information or assumptions about me – such as “likes to read” – based on publically-available data from publically-available sites. I might have posted some of that data MYSELF on those other sites – a status update, for example – or another site might be storing information about me that I never posted, but which is public – like the foreclosure sale of my home, for example. Spokeo is aggregating and then “publishing” all that information without my explicit consent TO THEM or proactive creation. That’s unethical.

Facebook has done something very similar.

Take the “Like” button on non-Facebook sites: you might be reading an article on cnn.com. If you click on the “Like” button, you’re now part of a community. The community of people who Like that article. Makes sense, right? Sort of. Now, when one of your Facebook friends OR even non-Friends – also visits that article, they’ll most likely see your name and a photo of you included in a group of people who Liked that article.

From Facebook’s perspective, you “Liked” it, so hey, why can’t they show you – why can’t they “publish” your Like – with your profile and your name? You “Liked” it, after all! …even though you probably didn’t realize that would happen.

And this will occur whenever and wherever you Like something across the internet. (and that’s just one part of what happens)

That’s just sleazy and unethical. Sure, you can choose not to Like anything. And sure, you can go try to figure out all the Privacy Settings.

But there’s a trust and a relationship that Facebook has broken.

1) They changed the Privacy Settings so that you have to go back in and alter them, if you want to maintain the degree of privacy you previously had. That’s just sleazy.

2) They spread information about you around the internet in a way you probably weren’t aware was going to happen. Even if you’d “opted in” by Liking something, publishing your Likes in that way is unethical.

The stock phrase – “If you don’t want it public, don’t put it on the internet” – is not a good enough answer to the issues raised by Facebook’s changes. Trust in a relationship you have with a site – even a free one – is paramount. We should be able to trust that we are in control of what gets published, and to whom. When I buy something on the web, I trust that my credit card number is not going to be intentionally published. When I post a photo to Facebook, I shouldn’t have to worry that it will appear in some ad somewhere, or pop up on cnn – unless I’ve intentionally opted in to that sort of publishing. By posting it, I haven’t intentionally opted in, regardless of what the Facebook execs say, especially when they change the rules mid-stream and provide complex and muddled -and in some cases, counter-intuitive – solutions.

Spokeo – and now Facebook – have descended to the level of tmz.com, the gossip/scandal site that does it’s best to find whatever it can about somebody and publish it to the world.

Comment by Patrick Barbanes — May 14, 2010 @ 1:00 pm
Facebook is like a democracy. People vote on want they want, complain, and provide solutions to the leadership of Facebook. Then Facebook does whatever they want to do, gradually. Democracy is also not user friendly. Sure, it's easy to vote, but votes are rarely the only thing that will create change or whatever the people desire. Like Facebook, democracy will not be disappearing in America anytime soon because it's been decided that it is the best form of government for America. America loves to tweak privacy settings, and know everything about its inhabitants. Why do you think a link to Facebook is on the front page of the White House's website? Facebook has been chosen by its users, and continues to be chosen every day no matter how many times they change privacy settings.

Comment by Kingsley Tagbo — May 21, 2010 @ 3:15 pm

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I deleted my gender. FB only knows me as "their". Kept asking me to choose between "his" or "her".

Comment by Guest — May 11, 2010 @ 4:12 pm

This page within Facebook's privacy settings is unclear. If I don't want any of the listed information shared, do I check the boxes, or do I leave them unchecked?

Comment by MrRichPeoples — May 11, 2010 @ 4:15 pm

"Depending on which friends ‘like’ and comment on your status, others on Facebook or friends of friends may be able to see your information."

Unless I've completely misunderstood something, the page you're describing here has no effect on whether non-friends see your status, regardless of likes or comments. Whether someone can access your status depends on the privacy setting for that status. If your friend uses an application that you have not used and that app requests data from Facebook about you, the page described here can limit what data the app receives. As far as I know, that is the page's only purpose.

@MrRichPeoples: Check a box to allow sharing, uncheck a box to prevent sharing.

Comment by theharmonyguy — May 11, 2010 @ 7:49 pm

True, it's not only about the information you provide yourself to Facebook but also the data you share with your friends. Revoking access has a negative impact on the user experience of your friends: You don't show up with your face, name, or whatever you denied in their applications.

Still quiet popular is the application "Birthday calendar" – revoking access to the birthday and/or name makes it impossible to work.. so, you might receive less birthday greetings from your online pals.

But don't forget: Even if you can control the information shared by applications your friends are using, you cannot control which information is posted by your friends themselves to Facebook.

Comment by René Reineke — May 12, 2010 @ 12:17 am

And what to do about it? Check or uncheck the boxes?

Comment by Lisbeth Jacobsen — May 12, 2010 @ 1:19 am

Yes, the page is not clear. I am honestly under the impression that Facebook is doing all in its power to steer people away from privacy and toward exposure, even while giving the illusion of "options."

Comment by Chana — May 12, 2010 @ 5:39 am

I'm with MrRichPeoples: Neither the page in facebook nor this article state whether checking the boxes activates or deactivates these items.

I'm assuming I should leave the unchecked and thus unactivated, but if someone knows otherwise, please share.

I'm suspicious of facebook for not stating this clearly on that page.

Comment by Sensible Seamstress — May 12, 2010 @ 6:43 am

You check it…you own it!

Comment by EA — May 12, 2010 @ 9:30 am

I recently wrote a similar article on my blog too: http://bit.ly/a99lyP Short of deleting my Facebook account, I have tighten up my privacy settings.

Thanks to Facebook's new privacy policy and Open Graph API, it got me thinking about stuff I am sharing online via social media. I learnt of 2 friends who lost their jobs becos' they 'whined' about work on Facebook.

By default, Status Updates can be shared by friends. I unchecked that box leaving only Videos, Links, Notes, and Photos available to share. I have no 'adult' material on my profile so I guess it's fine.

Comment by Nicholas Ong — May 12, 2010 @ 4:03 pm

"Between the risk of hacking, like Blippy’s recent exposure of credit cards via Google"

Blippy was not "hacked," they are simply incompetent – they inadvertently made users' credit card numbers appear on regular, everyday Google search.

See:
http://venturebeat.com/2010/04/23/blippy-credit-c...

Comment by Bjorn — May 12, 2010 @ 4:22 pm

Scary – even when you think you have your privacy set, any new changes to the interface can expose your previously private content. There is no such thing as 'private' on the Internet. Best bet is to realize that anything online can and will be shared.

Comment by Jody Raines — May 13, 2010 @ 11:11 am

As bad as facebook is getting, spokeo.com is a lot scarier for me. At least with facebook it's all information that I at some point chose to put there.

The information on spokeo….they gather…from I don't even know where.

I may have managed to remove the information about me…it had old phone numbers (haven't had the same one for long in years) old addresses, e-mail addresses…listed places I had worked! I looked up my husband and they have pictures of him, me, and even his sister! Pictures that none of us has ever published online before.

So, yes, facebook is screwing a lot of things up…but personally….I think this spokeo site is worse.

Comment by Freya Alexander — May 14, 2010 @ 2:20 am

Spokeo.com does nothing illegal, it’s just …sleazy-feeling and maybe unethical, depending on your ethics. But it’s VERY similar to what Facebook has done.

With Spokeo, there are two issues there:

1) I never “signed up” for Spokeo, and yet there’s a “Profile” there of me. That’s just sleazy-feeling.

2) The profile pulls in and aggregates all kinds of information or assumptions about me – such as “likes to read” – based on publically-available data from publically-available sites. I might have posted some of that data MYSELF on those other sites – a status update, for example – or another site might be storing information about me that I never posted, but which is public – like the foreclosure sale of my home, for example. Spokeo is aggregating and then “publishing” all that information without my explicit consent TO THEM or proactive creation. That’s unethical.

Facebook has done something very similar.

Take the “Like” button on non-Facebook sites: you might be reading an article on cnn.com. If you click on the “Like” button, you’re now part of a community. The community of people who Like that article. Makes sense, right? Sort of. Now, when one of your Facebook friends OR even non-Friends – also visits that article, they’ll most likely see your name and a photo of you included in a group of people who Liked that article.

From Facebook’s perspective, you “Liked” it, so hey, why can’t they show you – why can’t they “publish” your Like – with your profile and your name? You “Liked” it, after all! …even though you probably didn’t realize that would happen.

And this will occur whenever and wherever you Like something across the internet. (and that’s just one part of what happens)

That’s just sleazy and unethical. Sure, you can choose not to Like anything. And sure, you can go try to figure out all the Privacy Settings.

But there’s a trust and a relationship that Facebook has broken.

1) They changed the Privacy Settings so that you have to go back in and alter them, if you want to maintain the degree of privacy you previously had. That’s just sleazy.

2) They spread information about you around the internet in a way you probably weren’t aware was going to happen. Even if you’d “opted in” by Liking something, publishing your Likes in that way is unethical.

The stock phrase – “If you don’t want it public, don’t put it on the internet” – is not a good enough answer to the issues raised by Facebook’s changes. Trust in a relationship you have with a site – even a free one – is paramount. We should be able to trust that we are in control of what gets published, and to whom. When I buy something on the web, I trust that my credit card number is not going to be intentionally published. When I post a photo to Facebook, I shouldn’t have to worry that it will appear in some ad somewhere, or pop up on cnn – unless I’ve intentionally opted in to that sort of publishing. By posting it, I haven’t intentionally opted in, regardless of what the Facebook execs say, especially when they change the rules mid-stream and provide complex and muddled -and in some cases, counter-intuitive – solutions.

Spokeo – and now Facebook – have descended to the level of tmz.com, the gossip/scandal site that does it’s best to find whatever it can about somebody and publish it to the world.

Comment by Patrick Barbanes — May 14, 2010 @ 1:00 pm

Facebook is like a democracy. People vote on want they want, complain, and provide solutions to the leadership of Facebook. Then Facebook does whatever they want to do, gradually. Democracy is also not user friendly. Sure, it's easy to vote, but votes are rarely the only thing that will create change or whatever the people desire. Like Facebook, democracy will not be disappearing in America anytime soon because it's been decided that it is the best form of government for America. America loves to tweak privacy settings, and know everything about its inhabitants. Why do you think a link to Facebook is on the front page of the White House's website? Facebook has been chosen by its users, and continues to be chosen every day no matter how many times they change privacy settings.

Comment by Kingsley Tagbo — May 21, 2010 @ 3:15 pm

How Your Friends Can Expose Your Facebook Data

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1408814 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.allfacebook.com%2Fhow-your-friends-can-expose-your-facebook-data-2010-05How+Your+Friends+Can+Expose+Your+Facebook+Data2010-05-11+23%3A20%3A16Ellie+Cachettehttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.allfacebook.com%2F%3Fp%3D14088 »

Leave a comment

Follow AllFacebook

Send us a Tip

Social Media Jobs

Let your next job find you!

Featured Company

Jobs of the Day

Digital Strategist

Digital/Social Media Manager - Entertainment

Social Media Coordinator

See all jobs

Upcoming Events

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