From the BBC:

We wrote an evil data mining application called Miner, which, if we wanted, could masquerade as a game, a test, or a joke of the day. It took us less than three hours.

But whatever it looks like, in the background, it is collecting personal details, and those of the users' friends, and e-mailing them out of Facebook, to our inbox.

When you add an application, unless you say otherwise, it is given access to most of the information in your profile. That includes information you have on your friends even if they think they have tight security settings.

Did you know that you were responsible for other people's security?

Facebook responded by saying that they remove applications that violate their terms of use.

'Identity' at risk on Facebook [BBC]

(Thanks, T.J.!)

Ann Harrison, the communications director for a technology firm in Silicon Valley who was among those who obtained their personal files and provided them to The Post, said she was taken aback to see that her dossier contained data on her race and on a European flight that did not begin or end in the United States or connect to a U.S.-bound flight.

"It was surprising that they were gathering so much information without my knowledge on my travel activities, and it was distressing to me that this information was being gathered in violation of the law," she said.

James P. Harrison, director of the Identity Project and Ann Harrison's brother, obtained government records that contained another sister's phone number in Tokyo as an emergency contact. "So my sister's phone number ends up being in a government database," he said. "This is a lot more than just saying who you are, your date of birth."

Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented [Washington Post]
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The information is sold without the doctor's consent (some doctors don't even know the program exists) and drug companies pay well for it:

One of the less obvious but more intrusive marketing tools is the drug rep's hand-held computer, which contains a detailed profile of your doctor's prescribing history. Armed with the knowledge of each doctor's individual prescribing habits, pharmaceutical sales representatives tailor their pitches to each physician. This strategy has resulted in new, costlier drugs replacing established medications that have proven histories of safety and effectiveness. Industry profits swell, as do the nation's health care costs.

Few people recognize the role the AMA plays in making physician information available to companies that use it for pharmaceutical marketing purposes. The AMA sells information from its physician "Masterfile" to health information organizations that pair the identifying information with prescribing records from pharmacies and sell the whole package to pharmaceutical companies, a practice commonly called "prescription data-mining."

The AMA profits handsomely from this agreement. In 2005, the AMA made more than $44 million from the sale of database products, approximately 16 percent of its budget.

Prescription mining raises millions for doctors' group [SFGate via US PIRG]

(Photo:emilybean)

The database will ostensibly be used to combat terrorism.

From the Washington Post (emphasis ours):

Under the agreement, airlines flying from Europe to the United States are required to provide data related to these matters to U.S. authorities if it exists in their reservation systems. The deal allows Washington to retain and use it only "where the life of a data subject or of others could be imperiled or seriously impaired," such as in a counterterrorism investigation.

According to the deal, the information that can be used in such exceptional circumstances includes "racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership" and data about an individual's health, traveling partners and sexual orientation.

The article says that the reason they'd need to know if you requested a wheelchair is to determine if you were trying to hide a bomb in your fake leg cast. We're not sure why they need to know you want a king size bed. Is there a link between terrorism and people who date people who kick a lot at night?

Travelers Face Greater Use of Personal Data [Washington Post] (Thanks, Ian!)

"In a victory over data miners who used fraud, computer hacking and "social engineering" to collect the private cell phone numbers and calling histories of its customers, Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless has been awarded $1,135,000 in federal court."

The complaint stated that the defendants "engage[d] in deceit, trickery and dishonesty to obtain private information from Cingular's (customer service representatives) through 'social engineering,' improper hacking and/or through unauthorized access to online account information stored on Cingular's database."

Damn. How shitty is your company when Cingular gets to take the moral highground?

"This victory underscores the fact that Cingular will not tolerate data burglars," said Cingular's executive vice president and general counsel Joaquin Carbonell in a statement. "We are fighting to protect customer privacy on other fronts as well, including filing new lawsuits against telemarketers and spammers." I'm warm and fuzzy all over. —MEGHANN MARCO

Cingular Wins $1.1M Victory Over Data Miners [Law]

Most of these requests aren't even legal in the traditional sense of the world: they are sloppy fishing exercises from agencies trying to find some terrorists at all costs to justify their heavy handed tactics. For example, AOL (to be fair, one of the more legally scrupulous companies mentioned in the article) turns down twelve thousand requests for customer information every year. Last year alone, the FBI issued 9,200 National Security Letters (or subpoenas) seeking information on 3,501 citizens without a court's approval.

It's a bad situation for any company to be in: more and more often, companies are having to choose between customer privacy and the unrelenting demands of a paranoid and power-hungry government. You know, I never used to say this... but outside of Ireland's depressing lack of steak-and-cheese subs, I sure am glad I got out of America five years ago. This is what happens when you give up your rights because you are scared.

Requests for Corporate Data Multiply [Wall Street Journal]