Spam apps rise again on Facebook

It's application spam time again on Facebook, as the latest 'how many views' app is taking over many users' profiles.

Applications like ProfileSpy, which have been around for more than a year, has resurfaced again. The application is supposed to tell people how many visitors have seen a particular user's profile and even split it according to the number of men and women. Some other applications also claim to give you the names of the people who have recently viewed your profile.

The app needs people to grant 'access' to the users' personal information, news feed page, photos and videos among other things.

Most applications on Facebook often require such access. The information gathered here is often sourced to marketing firms for more targeted, niche advertising. Several people have called this a violation of privacy laws because some of these applications store personal information even after the user removes the app.

Facebook acknowledged this 'data mining' is happening and said there were some applications which had been sharing a 'user ID' - unique numbers assigned to Facebook members - to external people, violating privacy policies.

However, some applications continue to request access to personal information, leaving it up to the users' discretion.

Social networks are spammers' latest means to spread viruses and other malware.

A report on AllFacebook.com last week stated that spamming through social networks has doubled over the past year.

A video titled Girl kills herself after father posts this on Facebook did the rounds over the past few months. Users were required to click on a link to view the video, which would then embed it on their wall as well as send the link to other users.

Most users trust content received from friends, particularly in the form of videos and links on social networking sites, making it easy to spam them.