Facebook makes outside applications ask for user data

Facebook on Wednesday began making outside applications or websites detail what private information they want from people's online profiles.

Websites or applications then must get permission from users for specific data, according to Bret Taylor of Facebook.

The move came in the wake of Facebook revamping its privacy settings in order to appease critics who complained it was not properly safeguarding information.

"Today, we're taking the next step by providing more transparency and control over the information you share with third-party applications and websites," Taylor said in a blog post.

"With this new authorization process, when you log into an application with your Facebook account, the application will only be able to access the public parts of your profile by default."

Outside applications from games to electronic greeting cards that are popular at Facebook had been previously required to get permission to get private profile data, but did not have to specify what.

"The majority of people on Facebook actively interact with applications and Facebook-integrated websites every month," Taylor said.

"In order for these applications and websites to provide social and customized experiences, they need to know a little bit about you."

Privacy activists called on Facebook in mid-June to give users of the booming social network more control over the use of their personal data.

Facebook.com is visited monthly by 540 million people, or slightly more than 35 percent of the Internet population, according to Google data.

Facebook is overhauling privacy controls in the face of a barrage of criticism that it is betraying the trust which has made it the world's biggest social network.

Facebook redesigned its privacy settings page to provide a single control for content and "significantly reduce" the amount of information that is always visible to everyone.

Critics continue to call for Facebook to make all user information private by default and then let people designate what they want to share case-by-case in an "opt-in" model.