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With Permission, Facebook To Open User Data To Developers

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook will open up the stream of updates that appear on its users' pages to third-party developers so that they can build new services on top of that information. Sources say the announcement is expected sometime today. The move allows developers to build -- with users' permission -- services that access the photos, videos and comments users upload to Facebook. Says the Journal's Jessica Vascellaro, "That's a big change for the social-networking site, which has exercised tight control over the look and feel of its service and how developers can interact with it."

Facebook isn't charging developers for the feature, which it hopes will build user loyalty and get people to engage with the site more. Developers, for example, could build a Web site that aggregates articles their friends upload to the social network. Of course, users would have to allow these companies to receive access to their Facebook data, sources noted, and users' privacy settings on Facebook will extend to any new services built.

Additionally, Facebook is expected to announce that developers can pull the data from users' pages using an open standard that other Web sites can also use. All is expected to be unveiled at a developer event at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters on Monday.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

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