LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The growing popularity of social network website Facebook has sparked equally large concerns over privacy, especially on its new messaging system.
Facebook Messages, a system designed to handle the convergence of different kinds of messages -- e-mail, instant messaging, SMS and Facebook messages -- and bring them together under one social umbrella, was unveiled Tuesday.
Facebook Messages has provided users with the ability to have their own facebook.com e-mail address, but the system will also work with other e-mail systems, including Google's Gmail and Yahoo mail.
However, Facebook's introduction of the new system was followed soon after by concern over privacy.
"The more Facebook puts itself in a position to receive, store and safeguard the most private communications we have, the more Facebook will need to be vigilant to protect privacy and guard against hacking and data theft," Augie Ray, an analyst with market research firm Forrester, was quoted by Computer World as saying.
"When Facebook was primarily about open communications, such as status updates, this threat wasn't as great. But now that Facebook is increasingly facilitating private communications through features like Groups, Places and Messaging, it requires Facebook to do more to protect that data," the analyst said.
"And if Facebook fails to keep users' messages private, the backlash against the network could be damaging, and failure to do so can result in substantial loss of trust with Facebook and could cause consumers to abandon all or parts of Facebook," he said.
Facebook has been under attack over the security issues. Even members of the U.S. Congress have raised the issue.
According to Computer World, two U.S. Congressional members last month questioned the privacy of Facebook's most popular applications. Facebook had just admitted that applications made for the social network, such as FarmVille, Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille, have been sending users' personal information to dozens of advertising and Internet-monitoring companies.
Facebook also has been criticized for its move to share user information with third-party websites, due to the difficulty of following its privacy controls.
