Facebook suspends several apps over leaked user ID numbers

Facebook has suspended several popular apps, including Familybuilder's Family Tree app and nearly all apps by LOLapps Media (of Gift Creator and Quiz Creator fame). The suspended apps were found to be leaking Facebook ID numbers to a third-party advertising company called Rapleaf, which could use the Facebook IDs to put names and faces to the anonymous consumer data that it collects. Giving any user data to third-party advertising or data companies is a violation of Facebook's terms for developers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Rapleaf transmitted this data to a dozen advertising companies, including Google's Invite Media. All 12 companies involved in this leak say that they didn't keep or use the Facebook ID numbers. Rapleaf's defense is that no names were shared, and that the ID numbers were included accidentally. It looks like Facebook is taking your privacy -- or the company's valuable data, if you're cynical -- pretty seriously this time.

Tags: facebook, leak, personal data, PersonalData, privacy, rapleaf, social networking, SocialNetworking