This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube video (Fox 25 News segment titled "Facebook Gives Apps Access to Addresses And Phone Numbers") from January 18, 2011. It is a televised discussion/interview on Fox 25 News featuring anchors (multiple studio speakers), a caller, and identity-theft expert Robert Siciliano. The segment covers Facebook’s change to allow third-party apps access to users’ phone numbers, addresses and other profile data, privacy concerns and likely use for behavioral advertising, and provides advice on limiting shared data and app permissions.
Chapters
Chances are you probably logged on to your Facebook page sometime today.
Chances are also good it wasn't just your status update you put out there for all to see. What's the change? We have a privacy expert here in studio to explain it. You are watching the Fox 25 News at 10 o'clock.
Come back. Do you ever post like your phone number or address on Facebook? Yeah, I think I have that on there.
Yeah.
My phone number is on there, but not my address. My profile is private, and I know that that might not necessarily actually mean it's private because it's on the internet. I'm friends with my parents. I don't want my parents going on my— like, looking at my stuff either.
Well, everyone's on Facebook, and in case you didn't hear, folks, the social network has opened the doors for app developers to get access to users' addresses, phone numbers, among other things. And here to here to talk about it, identity theft expert Robert Siciliano. How are you, Robert?
Excellent, thank you.
Well, tell us, why are they doing this?
Well, more than likely it's for behavioral advertising. The information that you permission— by permission you give out more than likely will help advertisers and marketers to send you targeted ads.
Okay, well, this is our Facebook page here at Fox 25. We have nearly 20,000 friends, and Shannon just talked about gas prices. People are already chiming in on that. Now, you look at a fellow by the name of Christopher Fox. He's one of our followers. Someone could actually go in and extract information from him or from anybody for that fact.
So if Christopher, um, was playing a game like Farmville, and, uh, when he signs up to play that game, he integrates that app into his Facebook, and at that time the application will ask if he wants to share certain information, basic information on his profile that he's maybe already sharing with others, that now will include phone number, address, sometimes email address, basic information already on your profile, but now it's being shared with that app developer that now has it in their database.
Now, is it for the app developer to make a better app to, uh, to try to get people to buy that app, or is it going to advertisers? Where's it going?
More than likely, it's going to go to that application, uh, in some form of sales advertising process. They'll crunch some data, they'll use it to send you information to products and services that you may want to consume.
Now, the Facebookers, there's 600 million plus worldwide. They gotta be a little ticked off here, don't you think?
Well, right now privacy advocates are a little freaked out by this whole thing. Facebook has continually pushed the envelope with this, but they have a belief system that information should be shared and should be available. And in that realm, they have 500, 600 million users, and many people seem to agree with that process or they wouldn't be on Facebook to begin with.
Right, right. Now tell our viewers out there, what can they do to protect themselves if they don't want to have this happen to them? Can they?
If you don't want the data shared, don't have it on your Facebook profile to begin with. And then beyond that, if you're going to play all these games, get involved in these applications, you have a choice. You don't have to share the data with the application if you don't want. There are buttons that you push or don't push to share data or not.
And you think younger people are more apt to— I mean, younger people throw just about everything up there.
Yeah, younger people, you know, everybody's sharing a lot of data today. There's just too much information out there. But overall, if you're consciously on the web surfing, using Facebook in paying a pay attention to what you're doing, uh, you'll be that much more safer and secure in private.
All right, Robert Siciliano, identity theft expert. Some good information there. Maria?
