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41% of Facebook Users Willing To Divulge Personal Info

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-you-need-my-social-security-number? dept.

plastick writes "In an experiment, 41% of Facebook users were willing to divulge highly personal information to a complete stranger. This according to IT security firm Sophos, which invited 200 randomly selected Facebookers to befriend a bogus Facebook user named 'Freddi Staur' (an anagram of 'ID Fraudster'). Of those queried, 87 responded to the invitation, among them 82 people whose profiles included personal information such as their email address, date of birth, address or phone number."

7 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Again? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yet ANOTHER story about how many Facebook users are not particularly interested in hiding personal information. I mean. come on! This is some sort of News Flash? Is anyone unaware that Facebook is primarily a platform for sharing personal information?

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    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  2. Was it real by slashqwerty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "82 people whose profiles included personal information such as their email address, date of birth, address or phone number."

    How much of that personal information was real and how much was made up?

  3. This information isn't private by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    personal information such as their email address, date of birth, address or phone number

    I also have that information on my Facebook profile. It is available for ANYONE to see, including nonfriends.

    I don't have a problem here - the problem lies with any bank who would consider that information to be "secret", and would allow someone to get a loan in my name with only that information.

  4. Highly personal? by Bogtha · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe they just don't consider things like that to be "highly personal". By default, most of that information is available by doing such mundane things as registering a domain name. I don't consider contact information to be "highly personal". Somebody younger than me who grew up with social networking is even less likely to.

    --
    Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
  5. I wouldn't mind giving my info to him, he's cute by Isaac+Remuant · · Score: 3, Insightful

    just look: http://www.sophos.com/images/misc/freddi_frog.jpg

    Anyway, some issues:

    A) Why such a small sample data? I mean, it shouldn't be hard to annoy 1000+ users instead of just 200.
    B) Why aren't they talking about apps that access your information? I know you can disable them but, if you are willing to accept froggy here, I don't think you will.

    The implications of the whole thing are hilarious:
    Apparently, being poked by a Frog doesn't make you want to start a friendship. That could be a better title for the article.
    http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/08/facebook.html

    C) Next Survey: There's a pretty good chance that I'll waste valuable time with inconsequential Slashdot articles. But hey, It's good fun before going to sleep.

    --
    "Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world. " - Asimov.
  6. A Better Headline by Ltap · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "41% of Facebook Users Willing to Press a Button Without Understanding or Caring About the Consequences."

    Let's just hope none of them end up in missile silos.

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    (but so much more, including game and movie reviews)
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  7. Well by jav1231 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "willing to divulge highly personal information to a complete stranger."

    I do this twice a month. It's called seeing a therapist. :p