Can't be too careful with Web applications

By The Associated Press

Published: April 28, 2008

CHICAGO — Sarah Brown is unusually cautious when it comes to social networking.

The sophomore at St. Joseph College in Connecticut doesn't have a MySpace page and, while she's on Facebook, she does everything she can to keep her page private.

It sounds like her info is locked down and airtight. But is it?

Turns out, even the privacy-conscious people like Brown freely hand over personal information to perfect strangers. They do so every time they download and install what's known as an "application,” one of thousands of mini-programs on a growing number of social networking sites that are designed by third-party developers for anything from games and sports teams to trivia quizzes and virtual gifts.

People often think Facebook profiles and sometimes MySpace pages, if they're set as private, are only available to friends or specific groups. But that's not true with applications.

On Facebook, for instance, applications can only be downloaded if a user checks a box allowing its developers to "know who I am and access my information,” which means everything on a profile, except contact information.

So what do these third-parties do with the information? Sometimes, they use it to connect users with similar interests. Sometimes, they use it to target ads, based on demographics such as gender and age.

Facebook and MySpace say they hold application developers to strict standards. But experts think there's too much personal information flying around out there, with few guarantees that it's safe. They also think social networkers have little understanding where their information goes and how it's used.

"I suspect that there's a whole lot of clicking without a lot of thinking,” said Mary Madden, a senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "So much of this sharing happens in a way that users don't see the consequences. ”

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