Glitch Brings New Worries About Facebook’s Privacy

For many users of Facebook, the world’s largest social network, it was just the latest in a string of frustrations.On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations.Not long before, Facebook had introduced changes that essentially forced users to choose between making information about their interests available to anyone or removing it altogether.Although Facebook quickly moved to close the security hole on Wednesday, the breach heightened a feeling among many users that it was becoming hard to trust the service to protect their personal information.“Facebook has become more scary than fun,” said Jeffrey P. Ament, 35, a government contractor who lives in Rockville, Md.Mr. Ament said he was so fed up with Facebook that he deleted his account this week after three years of using the service. “Every week there seems to be a new privacy update or change, and I just can’t keep up with it.”Facebook said it did not think the security hole, which was open a few hours, would have a lasting impact on the company’s reputation.

via Glitch Brings New Worries About Facebook’s Privacy - NYTimes.com.