Would You Give Your Email Password to Facebook.com? Most Users Would.

Debates over sites like facebook.com are common and something many people, especially the kids who love it and their parents, are familiar with. Newsweek recently ran a cover story[1] that covered everything from its “coolness” factor to the concerns that the online community is actually creating teenagers who are unable, or at least uninterested, in actual face-to-face social interaction. What is rarely discussed in relation to this site, and others like it however, is the security threat it can represent to its users.

Facebook, like a growing number of other respected websites, actually asks for both new users’ email addresses and email passwords as part of the registration process. They use the information to send invitations to other users and stress that providing the information is optional. What is scary is that in a study, 41 percent of the 200 users contacted willingly offered up not only their email information, but also their phone numbers and dates of birth. Considering that facebook.com profiles regularly contain cell phone numbers, employment information, and home addresses this probably shouldn’t be surprising but it should raise concerns. Kids are failing to learn basic security measures and are giving out information that used to be considered private to anyone who is interested. Facebook.com may be a respectable site but many others aren’t. Habits are hard to break, and it is important that the correct ones be formed before it is too late. It can be hard, if not impossible, to tell the difference between a legitimate site and one that is a scam looking for easy targets.

See http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2179213,00.asp for more information.
[1] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227872/site/newsweek/