Facebook Sneaks Up on BlackBerry Users

BlackBerry owners may have noticed a new icon appearing on their devices in the past week: a link to Facebook. Some T-Mobile smartphones are getting the icons whether or not customers want them. Facebook spokespeople say users can still decide whether to download the software, but to privacy groups the unwanted icons spell intrusion, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

The Facebook link can be hidden but not deleted, a move that recalls the Beacon advertising system fiasco. Facebook says no information is shared among companies, but the head of the Center for Digital Democracy isn't sold: "It illustrates a basic problem over at Facebook, which is their need to fatten their bank account is confounding their need to protect the privacy of their members." (More Facebook stories.)