The Take on Tech

A Youngster's Look at Local Tech

Facebook Bug Reveals Chat Messages and Friend Requests

May 5th, 2010 at Wed, 5th, 2010 at 4:24 pm by Changlin Li

TechCrunch reported earlier today on a Facebook exploit that allowed users, by using the preview option in Facebook’s privacy settings to look at their own profiles from the point of view of a friend, to see any private chat messages their friends currently have open and their friends’ pending friend requests.

Facebook chat is currently unavailable as Facebook works to patch this bug.

Coming on the heels of Facebook’s “instant personalization” program, this incident only further confirms the fragility of one’s privacy on the internet. Any personal information that one posts on Facebook might be private, but it should definitely not be sensitive. Facebook is all about sharing, not necessarily about caring, so tread carefully.

Update: Facebook chat was functional again on the same day.

Changlin Li Changlin Li is an intern here at the Bellevue Reporter and is a student at Interlake High School, who will be very happy once summer rolls around. Contact him at cli@bellevuereporter.com with any comments you might have.

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