Facebook privacy blow for millions of app users

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The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to the social networking website's strictest privacy settings, according to the investigation by the Wall Street Journal.

The practice violates Facebook's rules and raises questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users' activities secure.

A Facebook spokesman said it was taking steps to "dramatically limit" the exposure of users' personal information.

"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said.

Knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on Facebook," he said, adding that the company would introduce technology to contain the problem.