Facebook knows it could lead to some major backlash too, so they're being very conservative with the initial rollout. If you go to Yelp, it's actually hard to tell at first glance that any data sharing has occurred. Go to Pandora and it will know what bands you like, but who is going to get upset about that? And Docs.com doesn't appear to be open to the public yet.
As the program expands, though, there could be a pretty serious shitstorm. I don't think people understand what the 'Everyone' option means, and this could be the first time they realize what they signed up for during Facebook's privacy overhaul last December, when Everyone became the default.
But you know what? There's a setting in Privacy Settings->Applications and Websites called "Instant Personalization". Uncheck it and there you go. I realize there are a lot of people who won't do this but the option is there.
"Please keep in mind that if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites unless you block the application."
But what does "public" mean there? If your privacy settings have information access as "visible to friends only", can "these partner sites" access that data if your friend doesn't opt out of this sharing?
For those who don't want to have to log in to find out:
"What your friends can share about you through applications and websites:
When your friend visits a Facebook-enhanced application or website, they may want to share certain information to make the experience more social. For example, a greeting card application may use your birthday information to prompt your friend to send a card
If your friend uses an application that you do not use, you can control what types of information the application can access. Please note that applications will always be able to access your publicly available information (Name, Profile Picture, Gender, Current City, Networks, Friend List, and Pages) and information that is visible to Everyone."
(I'm pretty sure at least current city wasn't on that list until fairly recently.)
Yeah, you're correct. It's gotten to the point that if you're a Facebook user you either have to not care if your data is shared or remove anything you may have added and care about.
That's sort of beside the point. If people start freaking out about this, they aren't going to see that setting and say "Oh, I guess this is OK then". They're going to be angry that they were signed up for it in the first place without realizing what was going on.
Facebook knows it could lead to some major backlash too, so they're being very conservative with the initial rollout. If you go to Yelp, it's actually hard to tell at first glance that any data sharing has occurred. Go to Pandora and it will know what bands you like, but who is going to get upset about that? And Docs.com doesn't appear to be open to the public yet.
As the program expands, though, there could be a pretty serious shitstorm. I don't think people understand what the 'Everyone' option means, and this could be the first time they realize what they signed up for during Facebook's privacy overhaul last December, when Everyone became the default.