Los Angeles – Following similar revelations about Facebook,
News Corp.’s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace online social network has been found to have been
transmitting personally identifiable data on users to advertisers, The Wall
Street Journal reported. As with Facebook, the information is being transmitted
via MySpace user IDs, a unique number that associates a MySpace account with
its owner.
Recipients of the MySpace user ID data — including Google,
Quantcast and Rubicon Project — told The Journal they did not make use of the
information transmitted when users clicked on MySpace ads.
Along with MySpace
itself, MySpace applications including BitRhyme’s TagMe, WonderHill’s GreenSpot
and RockYou’s Pets were found to have transmitted MySpace user IDs to tracking
or ad firms including RapLeaf.
"It has recently come to our attention that
several third-party app developers may have violated these terms and we are
taking appropriate action against those developers," a MySpace spokesman
told The Journal.
Lawmakers have asked Facebook to address privacy questions
raised by the user ID issue, and the company also now faces a number of
lawsuits over the matter.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2v2acez
(WSJ)
http://tinyurl.com/22q77st
(DMW previous coverage)
