my opinion about facebook's instant personalization. this blog post explains why i feel that facebook is NOT violating user privacy. i have also included some links to some resource web pages.

i found a few anti-facebook rumors reading:

FACEBOOK is at it again...violating your personal information: As of today, there is a new privacy setting called "Instant Personalization" that shares data with non-facebook websites and it is automatically set to "Allow." Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites and uncheck "Allow". Please copy & repost

and

Facebook has a new way of sharing your personal info: As of today, there is a new privacy setting called "Instant Personalization" that shares data with non-facebook websites and it is automatically set to "Allow." Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites> Instant ...personalization and uncheck "Allow". Please copy & repost

facebook says:

Instant Personalization helps you connect more easily with your friends on select partner sites.

You'll find a personal and social experience the moment you arrive on our select partner sites -- Docs.com, Pandora, and Yelp. We're working closely with these partners so you can quickly connect with your friends and see relevant content on their sites. These sites personalize your experience using your public Facebook information.... See More

When you arrive on these sites, you'll see a notification from Facebook at the top of the page.

You can easily opt-out of experiencing this on these sites by "No Thanks" on the blue Facebook notification on the top of partner sites.

and by default the following is checked:

Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites.

that is, by default facebook will "Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites."

what does this mean?

facebook is NOT VIOLATING your privacy by sending out info that is not "public" as specified by you!

IF / WHEN you visit a facebook partner site and IF / WHEN you opt to register with them - you will get notified and you have control over the subscription.

for example:
go to yelp.com <- facebook partner website
you will find a notice saying

"Hi YOUR_NAME. Yelp is using facebook to personalize your experience. Learn More – No Thanks"

you can always click "No Thanks" if you don't want facebook sharing your public with yelp.com.

this is a rumor

"FACEBOOK is at it again...violating your personal information"

is this true? no. it's misinformation. as i see it - this is a rumor. and with all rumors we don't bother to check if it's true and would blindly broadcast it

what is shared with these 'partner' sites are data you have made available to the public (non-facebook users). anyone can see this. the 'partner' sites have a programming link to this info. that's the only difference.

you'd rather put a notice saying 'read the facebook privacy notices' - Go to "Account" > "Privacy Settings"

and i don't know what the big deal is 'cos all these 'partner' sites will put a big ass notice saying your facebook public data will be populated on their site during subscription (eg. yelp.com)

facebook also says

visit this webpage by facebook explaining how instant personalization works.

None of your data is shared with the site when you view social plugins. Social plugins pull information directly from Facebook and the site has no access to the data being displayed to you.

You can easily opt-out of experiencing this on these sites by clicking here or clicking "No Thanks" on the blue Facebook notification on the top of partner sites. If you opt-out, your public Facebook information can still be shared by your friends to these partner sites unless you block the application.

is this a privacy violation?

well you decide. i think not.

why? because you are asked if you want to share your info with the partner website and IF AND ONLY IF you NOT OPT IN will facebook share some of your personal info with the partner website. also the partner website DOES NOT store any of this info (according to facebook).

google search: facebook's instant personalization
you will will a lot of pissed off bloggers taking swipes at facebook. and i'm thinking - if you don't like what facebook is doing then why are you in it? why do you feed so much personal info to facebook?

have a look at this blog post by a not-so-pissed-off blogger. it explains how to opt out of this apparent privacy violation.