The latest Facebook privacy fiasco shows that the world’s largest online social hub is having a hard time putting this thorny issue behind it even as it continues to attract users and become indispensible to many of them, the Associated Press reports. The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 18 that several popular Facebook applications have been transmitting users’ personal identifying information to dozens of advertising and internet tracking companies. Facebook said it is working to fix the problem, and was quick to point out that the leaks were not intentional, but a consequence of basic web mechanisms. “In most cases, developers did not intend to pass this information, but did so because of the technical details of how browsers work,” said Mike Vernal, a Facebook engineer, in a blog post on Oct. 18. In a statement, Facebook said there is “no evidence that any personal information was misused or even collected as a result of this issue.” Even so, some privacy advocates said it’s problematic that the information was leaked at all, regardless of what happened to it. Facebook needs its users to trust it with their data because if they don’t, they won’t use the site to share as much as they do now…
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