Details of 100m Facebook users collected and published

Ron Bowles used Dell D620 battery of code to scan Facebook profiles, collecting data not hidden by the user's privacy settings.

The list, which has been shared as a downloadable file, contains the URL of every searchable Facebook user's profile, their name and unique ID.

Vostro 1500 battery said he published the data to highlight privacy issues, but Facebook said it was already public information.

The file has spread rapidly across the net.

On the Pirate Bay, the world's biggest file-sharing website, the list was being distributed and downloaded by VGP-BPS9 Battery 1,000 users.

One user, going by the name of lusifer69, described the list as "awesome and a little terrifying".

In a VGP-BPS9A/B battery to BBC News, Facebook said that the information in the list was already freely available online.

"People who use Facebook own their information and have the right to share only what they want, with whom they want, and when they want," the statement battery .

"In this case, information that people have agreed to make public was collected by a single researcher and already exists in VGP-BPS8 Bing, other search engines, as well as on Facebook.

"No private data is available or has been compromised," the statement added.

'Privacy confusion'

VGP-BPS8A battery Simon Davies from the watchdog Privacy International told BBC News that Facebook had been given ample warning that something like this would happen.

"Facebook should have anticipated this attack and put measures in place to VGP-BPS13," he said

"It is inconceivable that a firm with hundreds of engineers couldn't have imagined a trawl of this magnitude and there's an argument to be heard that Facebook have acted with negligence, he added.

VGP-BPS13A/B battery said that the trawl of data fed into "the confusion of the privacy settings".

"People did not understand the privacy settings and this is the result," he said.

Facebook hit its 500m user in mid June Sony VGP-BPS2C battery this year there was a storm of protest from users of the site over the complexity of Facebook's privacy settings. As a result, the site rolled out simplified privacy controls.

Facebook has a default setting for privacy that makes some user information publicly available. People have to cheapbattery a conscious choice to opt-out of the defaults.

"It VGP-BPS13B/Q to the white pages of the phone book, this is the information available to enable people to find each other, which is the reason people join Facebook," said a spokesman for the firm.

"If someone does not want to be found, we also offer a number of controls to enable people not to appear in search on SONYVGP-BPS13/B, in search engines, or share any information with applications."

But Mr Davies disagreed, saying the default settings should be changed.

"This highlights the argument for a higher level of privacy and proves the case for default nondisclosure," he said.

"There are going to be a lot of angry and concerned people right now who be wondering who has their data and what they should do."

sony VGP-BPS9/S, Mr Davies pointed out that this was something of an "ethical attack" and that more personal information, such as email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses had not been included in the trawl.

BBC Online readers have been sending us their thoughts on this story. Here is a selection of their comments.

I've reconnected with dozens of old friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in years, because it is possible to search for them on Inspiron 1520 battery. There's not much point in signing up for it if you're just going to hide behind a wall of anonymity.

Cliff Smith, Exeter, UK Aspire 5920 battery

Continue reading the main story
“
Acer 5100 battery
Large scale data mining exercises like this one are actually pretty common and easy to do”
End Quote
Ben, Manchester, notebook
I don't see that Facebook has done anything wrong. They make it abundantly clear that you, the subscriber, are responsible for managing your privacy settings. If you don't know how to cook, you stay out of the kitchen. In other words, if you don't understand how to manage your privacy settings, don't sign up to Facebook.

Steve, Riverside, California, Travelmate 290 battery

I made a deliberate decision not to use Facebook because I don't trust it. It is obviously a frequently-attacked site, and I don't trust the company to resist the temptation to harvest the data they host.

Jane C, UK

Travelmate 5720 battery happened is that someone wasted hours compiling already available material and then posted it on the 'scary' Pirate Bay website, as if they were disclosing secrets of national security. It's no more alarming than finding the yellow pages in a brothel. If you want to meet friends and share information with the world then stop whining when the person looking over your shoulder can see it all too.

Mark Ford, East Grinstead, UK

I use Facebook to connect with family friends and co-workers. But I Travelmate 6291 battery not searchable, I do not share with 'friends of friends' and have not installed any of those silly side apps that share your info. Facebook is still too complicated for the average user.

Shannon, Winchester, California, USA

mini batterty scale data mining exercises like this one are actually pretty common and easy to do. If you don't want people looking at your information, either don't make it publicly available or don't post it in the first place.