One Step Ahead: Almanac Security Tips - 2009

Table of Contents (view all)

You Can't Lose Data That You Don't Have
Password Cracking: The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow
PennKey Opens Many Doors: Keep it Safe
Software Piracy
Collect Personal Documents and Computer Hard Drives for Free Shredding at the Employee Resource Fair
Don’t Use Excessive Privileges on Your Computer
Do You Google? Know How to Protect Your Privacy
Online Statements and Bill Payments: Safer Than Paper?
Updated Purchase Order Terms and Conditions Regarding Information Privacy & Security
Sanitize Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Docs Before Publishing
Exchange Sensitive Data Securely Using Secure Share
Facebook Sharing Can Be Broader than You Think: A Birthday Example
Managing Facebook's Privacy Settings for Safe Use
Be Careful with Facebook Apps
ID Theft: Are You Worrying About the Right Things?

Whats popular?

Tagged with social networking , privacy

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - Almanac Vol. 55, No. 27

Be Careful with Facebook Apps

As an older generation joins their co-workers, old friends, and maybe a few uncomfortable teenagers on Facebook, it's time for a primer on privacy:

1. Be careful with Facebook apps.
2. Check and recheck your privacy settings.

Facebook apps are software programs usually intended to allow users to connect, interact, and entertain themselves. Some apps, like Photos and Wall, were written by Facebook, but the vast majority are written by 400,000+ third-party developers.

When you install an app, the developer can see everything on Facebook that you can see: all of your personal information, and everything that you can see about your friends and Network neighbors. (Networks are groups of Facebook users. Most Penn faculty, staff, students and alums are in the UPENN network.) Similarly, your personal information is available to developers through any apps installed by your friends or Network neighbors. App developers can store this information on their servers outside of Facebook and must agree not to misuse their privileged access, but Facebook has no controls to prevent or detect abuse. To protect your privacy, you can limit what developers can see about you through your friends' apps, but that is not the default setting.

So be sure to check your privacy settings regularly at www.facebook.com/privacy. Click on Applications to control what information third-party developers can see about you through your friends' and Network neighbors' Facebook apps, and to avoid having your purchases at eBay, Travelocity, Blockbuster and other sites advertised to your friends by Facebook Beacon. Click on Profile to control who can see your birthday, phone number, friends, activities, interests, and more. Click on Search to control who can search for you with search engines like Google. Click on News Feed and Wall to control who can see your chat conversations and posts exchanged with friends, and to opt out of Social Ads that announce your online purchases and group activities.

To see what apps you have installed, log on to Facebook, and click on Settings->Application Settings.