Facebook Glitch Exposes Private Information

The glitch allowed users to to see friends' chat boxes and friend requests.

By Kara Reeder | May 6, 2010
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Facebook users were able to see other people's personal information thanks to a security flaw. According to V3.co.uk, the glitch allowed users to to see friends' chat boxes and friend requests. Facebook says it has fixed the problem.

However, the issue has prompted many users to question the security of their information on the social networking site. The New York Times quotes Augie Ray, an analyst with Forrester Research, as saying:

While this breach appears to be relatively small, it's inopportunely timed. It threatens to undermine what Facebook hopes to achieve with its network over the next few years, because users have to ask whether it is a platform worthy of their trust.

The incident occurred on the same day that 15 consumer groups complained about Facebook in a filing with the Federal Trade Commission, reports BusinessWeek. The complaint urged the FTC to probe Facebook's privacy practices and make it take steps to better guard against security breaches.

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