Facebook quietly released an update to it's Allow feature authorizing access to user's address and phone number information. Image by Daniel Poon.
From the looks of the newest announcement that was made on Friday, it appears that privacy is not a top priority for social media site, Facebook. Even the company’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has never been concerned with privacy. He thinks people like to share information and the more they become connected, the more they want to share their information.
The newest change that is now in effect is when you play a game or use a silly quiz to answer questions, you have to press the “Allow” button. The “Allow” button has always shared some information, but with the new changes, you will have allowed your home address and your cell phone number to be shared.
The change was added quietly on late Friday. If you saw the announcement and took appropriate actions, you were fine. If, on the other hand, like millions of users that never read those things, you didn’t pay attention, there is a chance that you may have already shared your information.
The other scary part is the people that are getting the information. There is not a lot of restrictions on who gets it and what they will start to solicit you with. Changes like these continue to frustrate users. They begin to feel like Facebook is not concerned about their privacy, so they have to work extra hard to make sure it’s all protected.
All Facebook users should go into their profile and make sure their cell phone numbers and addresses are removed to protect themselves.
