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The mistake arose due to a flaw in a public beta test. The test was for the website's re-design. But when users used the new homepage, they were able to access personal information, including members' dates of birth.
Lack of privacy
Speaking to VNU Net, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said about the security flaw: "I was shocked to see people's full date of birth revealed, even though I knew they had their privacy set up correctly to supposedly hide the information.
"It is essential that users of social networks should have confidence that their privacy will be protected, and it is especially important with information like your date of birth which can be a golden nugget for a committed identity thief."
Thankfully the security glitch has now been fixed. But only once Cluley told the website of the problem.
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