I was reading an article on the Herald Sun site yesterday and noticed their facebook widget. The widget lists the number of Facebook users who have chosen to become 'fans' of the Herald inside the Facebook platform. The widget also displays 10 random facebook users' name, profile picture and links the picture to the user's Facebook profile. 

Do Facebook users understand that when they 'like' the Herald from within Facebook.com that their profile may be displayed on the Herald site? I certainly did not. I contacted the random 10 people that appeared next to the article I was reading and asked them if they knew this was happening and whether they cared.

3 of the 10 have so far replied and there was a mixed response:

"No i am fine with it as i am a fan of the herald sun page and if you look its a photo of shoes not me anyway cheers" - Wendy

"Honestly i was not aware that my photo was being used for this type of thing but it doesnt suprise me because i am aware that nothing on facebook is really private. As everyone says you dont get nothing for free unless theres a catch in this case using pictures and that. Yes it would be nice to be asked but on the otherhand i dont pay them anything for that luxury if you get where im coming from.
By the way i know one of the people in that add, dont know if theres any link but oh well." - Alistair 

"No i had absolutely no idea they where doing this. I'm not real happy about it either. It is basically posting public information about myself on their website. What can I do about it ?" - Brendan

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is about to announce supposed improvements to the Facebook privacy settings today. He has stated previously that Facebook does "not share your personal information with people or services you don't want" - Is that true? If you are one of the random 10 people selected by the Herald Sun's widget surely there are strangers that are going to know your name, picture and that you like the Herald. Did all those Herald loving Facebook users really want that? I found at least one guy who didn't.

We will see what privacy changes are announced today but I doubt this integration between these type of services will stop. Let's face it - It's a fairly harmless widget - but there is a growing disconnect between what users of Facebook think is happening with their information and reality.