[Air-L] Facebook Data of 1.2 Million Users from 2005 Released

[Michael Zimmer]

Dear AoIR-ers:  

Some might be interested in this Facebook dataset release, and the issues I raise regarding its "anonymization".  

-mz


Facebook Data of 1.2 Million Users from 2005 Released: Limited Exposure, but Very Problematic
http://michaelzimmer.org/2011/02/15/facebook-data-of-1-2-million-users-from-2005-released/

Recently, a Facebook dataset was released consisting of the complete set of users from the Facebook networks at 100 American institutions, and all of the in-network “friendship” links between those users as they existed at a single moment of time in September 2005. Surprisingly, it initially included each users unique Facebook ID, meaning the presumed “anonymous” dataset could be easily re-identified, potentially putting the personal information of 1.2 million Facebook users at risk.



-- 
Michael Zimmer, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
Co-Director, Center for Information Policy Research
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
e: zimmerm at uwm.edu
w: www.michaelzimmer.org