Facebook Updates User ID Policy, Puts Six Month Block on Rogue Application Developers

Following an arguably overblown investigation into Facebook application developers sharing publicly-available user identification numbers with third parties, Facebook has made a few additional moves to clamp down on the problem. One is a policy update, another is punishment for those developers that purposefully sold this information — most had done it accidentally — and a third is confirmation of a change it previously proposed to how user IDs are handled.
Given that the user IDs are already publicly available, there was no privacy violation — contrary to how many news organizations covered the story. But selling user data to third parties is explicitly forbidden in Facebook’s developer terms. So Facebook’s actions here are likely motivated in part by the need to reassure the public that their (public) data is safe, while also setting an example to developers.
First, the policy change, from the company’s developer blog post on the matter:

Today, we are clarifying our policy to ensure that developers understand the proper use of UIDs in their applications. Our policy has always stated that data received from Facebook, including UIDs, cannot be shared with data brokers and ad networks. Moving forward, our policy will state that UIDs cannot leave your application or any of the infrastructure, code, and services you need to build and run your application. You can use services, such as Akamai, Amazon Web Services and analytics services as long as those services keep UIDs confidential to your application.

Second, developers will also need to adopt the new mechanism for making user IDs anonymous.

We realize that developers may sometimes need a way to share a unique identifier outside of their application with permitted third parties, such as content partners, advertisers or other service providers. We are adding a mechanism that developers must use to share anonymous identifiers for this purpose. We will release this functionality (available via the Graph API and FQL) early next week. We encourage developers to move to this mechanism quickly and will require it on January 1, 2011.

Ad networks on Facebook, the post notes, are also being required to delete any IDs in their possession in order to continue doing business on the platform; Facebook is also requiring that developers anonymize any IDs they send to these companies.
It is also banning some currently unknown developers for having purposefully brokered this data to third parties. It’s not naming names, but please let us know in comments if you have more information about who they are. From the post:

As we examined the circumstances of inadvertent UID transfers, we discovered some instances where a data broker was paying developers for UIDs. While we determined that no private user data was sold and confirmed that transfer of these UIDs did not give access to any private data, this violation of our policy is something we take seriously. As such, we are taking action against these developers by instituting a 6-month full moratorium on their access to Facebook communication channels, and we will require these developers to submit their data practices to an audit in the future to confirm that they are in compliance with our policies. This impacts fewer than a dozen, mostly small developers, none of which are in the top 10 applications on Facebook Platform.

Finally, Facebook says it has worked out a deal where one of the data brokers that was buying the data, Rapleaf, will delete all user IDs in its possession

Facebook Updates User ID Policy, Puts Six Month Block on Rogue Application Developers

Following an arguably overblown investigation into Facebook application developers sharing publicly-available user identification numbers with third parties, Facebook has made a few additional moves to clamp down on the problem. One is a policy update, another is punishment for those developers that purposefully sold this information — most had done it accidentally — and a third is confirmation of a change it previously proposed to how user IDs are handled.
Given that the user IDs are already publicly available, there was no privacy violation — contrary to how many news organizations covered the story. But selling user data to third parties is explicitly forbidden in Facebook’s developer terms. So Facebook’s actions here are likely motivated in part by the need to reassure the public that their (public) data is safe, while also setting an example to developers.
First, the policy change, from the company’s developer blog post on the matter:

Today, we are clarifying our policy to ensure that developers understand the proper use of UIDs in their applications. Our policy has always stated that data received from Facebook, including UIDs, cannot be shared with data brokers and ad networks. Moving forward, our policy will state that UIDs cannot leave your application or any of the infrastructure, code, and services you need to build and run your application. You can use services, such as Akamai, Amazon Web Services and analytics services as long as those services keep UIDs confidential to your application.

Second, developers will also need to adopt the new mechanism for making user IDs anonymous.

We realize that developers may sometimes need a way to share a unique identifier outside of their application with permitted third parties, such as content partners, advertisers or other service providers. We are adding a mechanism that developers must use to share anonymous identifiers for this purpose. We will release this functionality (available via the Graph API and FQL) early next week. We encourage developers to move to this mechanism quickly and will require it on January 1, 2011.

Ad networks on Facebook, the post notes, are also being required to delete any IDs in their possession in order to continue doing business on the platform; Facebook is also requiring that developers anonymize any IDs they send to these companies.
It is also banning some currently unknown developers for having purposefully brokered this data to third parties. It’s not naming names, but please let us know in comments if you have more information about who they are. From the post:

As we examined the circumstances of inadvertent UID transfers, we discovered some instances where a data broker was paying developers for UIDs. While we determined that no private user data was sold and confirmed that transfer of these UIDs did not give access to any private data, this violation of our policy is something we take seriously. As such, we are taking action against these developers by instituting a 6-month full moratorium on their access to Facebook communication channels, and we will require these developers to submit their data practices to an audit in the future to confirm that they are in compliance with our policies. This impacts fewer than a dozen, mostly small developers, none of which are in the top 10 applications on Facebook Platform.

Finally, Facebook says it has worked out a deal where one of the data brokers that was buying the data, Rapleaf, will delete all user IDs in its possession

Facebook Places To Change Status Updates Forever

The idea behind Facebook places is relatively simple; when you are at a location and surfing Facebook with your mobile device, the feature allows you to tag the location that you are in based on GPS tracking through your mobile device. The feature is one of a number of different similar products that have surfaced in recent years that are likely based on the model that FourSquare created.

The service allows you to announce where you are and give more relevance to your status updates. Instead of just announcing who you are watching perform and how great the concert is, Facebook places allows you to tell your friends exactly where you are, and what venue they are playing at.

Another use for the feature would be to announce where you are when you find a great deal. Obviously, retailers are drooling at the idea of Facebook users announcing huge sales at different department stores. Users will also be able to give their friends an idea of when they are in the same area, and make it easier for them to meet up.

The possibilities are endless with Facebook places. Although a number of similar products were already on the market when places launched, it appears that Facebook has cornered the market as far as Facebook users go. At this time the usage of the feature is relatively low, but Facebook undoubtedly plans to expand it over time as more users learn how to use the feature, and figure out its different uses.

Facebook Places To Change Status Updates Forever

The idea behind Facebook places is relatively simple; when you are at a location and surfing Facebook with your mobile device, the feature allows you to tag the location that you are in based on GPS tracking through your mobile device. The feature is one of a number of different similar products that have surfaced in recent years that are likely based on the model that FourSquare created.

The service allows you to announce where you are and give more relevance to your status updates. Instead of just announcing who you are watching perform and how great the concert is, Facebook places allows you to tell your friends exactly where you are, and what venue they are playing at.

Another use for the feature would be to announce where you are when you find a great deal. Obviously, retailers are drooling at the idea of Facebook users announcing huge sales at different department stores. Users will also be able to give their friends an idea of when they are in the same area, and make it easier for them to meet up.

The possibilities are endless with Facebook places. Although a number of similar products were already on the market when places launched, it appears that Facebook has cornered the market as far as Facebook users go. At this time the usage of the feature is relatively low, but Facebook undoubtedly plans to expand it over time as more users learn how to use the feature, and figure out its different uses.

Facebook updates mobile platform, says 'no' to rumored phone

Computerworld - If you were one of the many people hoping for a Facebook phone, sorry. That's not happening.

That was the first announcement from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the social network's much anticipated mobile news conference today at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
"There's been this rumor going around that Facebook is going to build a phone. Ah, no," said Zuckerberg, stressing that the company wants to make mobile phones far more social.
With that rumor out of the way, Zuckerberg went on to say that the company is unveiling features for mobile software for Android devices, giving them single sign-on and making it easier for users to share their locations. And iPhone users are going to be getting some new "Deals" from businesses.
Facebook already has an iPhone app, although caused a bit of a stir when he was asked why it didn't offer any mobile apps for Apple's iPad. Simply put, Zuckerberg doesn't think the iPad is a mobile device.
"The iPad's not mobile. It's a computer," he explained, drawing gasps and laughter from the audience on hand for the event. When someone told him that Apple would disagree, he added, "Well, sorry."
Several minutes later, Zuckerberg jumped back into the conversation to add that he didn't mean to offend Apple and that a lot of people working at Facebook use Apple devices.
After that he tried to keep the focus on the day's announcements.
The new single sign-on feature is designed to enable a user's Facebook account to give them access to any third-party application that works with it. Zuckerberg said the feature is designed to make it easier and faster to use any smartphone social app by reducing the number of times users have to type in their username and password on tiny keyboards.
Facebook today also unveiled Places and Groups for the Android platform.
The Places feature allows Android users to let their friends know what restaurants, clubs, museums or theaters they're visiting. And Android users now can access their favorite groups from their phone.
The social network also is helping businesses build new or better customer relationships.
Facebook announced a new feature for the iPhone called Deals, which allows businesses to offer mobile users deals -- but only when they check into their place on Facebook. For now, the feature is only available in the U.S., although the company hopes to expand that to other countries soon.
The restaurant Chipotle will be offering Facebook users two entrees for the price of one. JCPenney is giving them $10 off every $50 purchase. And Gap is giving free jeans to the first 10,000 customers.

Facebook updates mobile platform, says 'no' to rumored phone

Computerworld - If you were one of the many people hoping for a Facebook phone, sorry. That's not happening.

That was the first announcement from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the social network's much anticipated mobile news conference today at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
"There's been this rumor going around that Facebook is going to build a phone. Ah, no," said Zuckerberg, stressing that the company wants to make mobile phones far more social.
With that rumor out of the way, Zuckerberg went on to say that the company is unveiling features for mobile software for Android devices, giving them single sign-on and making it easier for users to share their locations. And iPhone users are going to be getting some new "Deals" from businesses.
Facebook already has an iPhone app, although caused a bit of a stir when he was asked why it didn't offer any mobile apps for Apple's iPad. Simply put, Zuckerberg doesn't think the iPad is a mobile device.
"The iPad's not mobile. It's a computer," he explained, drawing gasps and laughter from the audience on hand for the event. When someone told him that Apple would disagree, he added, "Well, sorry."
Several minutes later, Zuckerberg jumped back into the conversation to add that he didn't mean to offend Apple and that a lot of people working at Facebook use Apple devices.
After that he tried to keep the focus on the day's announcements.
The new single sign-on feature is designed to enable a user's Facebook account to give them access to any third-party application that works with it. Zuckerberg said the feature is designed to make it easier and faster to use any smartphone social app by reducing the number of times users have to type in their username and password on tiny keyboards.
Facebook today also unveiled Places and Groups for the Android platform.
The Places feature allows Android users to let their friends know what restaurants, clubs, museums or theaters they're visiting. And Android users now can access their favorite groups from their phone.
The social network also is helping businesses build new or better customer relationships.
Facebook announced a new feature for the iPhone called Deals, which allows businesses to offer mobile users deals -- but only when they check into their place on Facebook. For now, the feature is only available in the U.S., although the company hopes to expand that to other countries soon.
The restaurant Chipotle will be offering Facebook users two entrees for the price of one. JCPenney is giving them $10 off every $50 purchase. And Gap is giving free jeans to the first 10,000 customers.

The Socialite Network: UK's Queen joins Facebook

LONDON
Britain's royal household says Queen Elizabeth II is launching her own fan page on Facebook.
The 84-year-old British monarch will be featured in videos, photos and news updates on the site, her office said on Sunday.
Users will be able send messages to Buckingham Palace, and leave comments on the Queen's pages.
Britain's court circular, the official daily record of the royal family's engagements, will also be featured on the site. The daily circular -- which lists the previous day's diary appointments -- was created by George III in 1803 after he became frustrated at inaccurate newspaper reports.
Britain's royal family already has an account on the Flickr photography website, joined Twitter in 2009 and set up a video channel on YouTube in 2007.