Facebook quietly swaps email addresses on profiles

Facebook email addresses match the user name of member profiles.

/ Facebook/Chenda Ngak

(CBS News) Facebook recently assigned @facebook.com email addresses to all users - even without opting in to the feature. And the company reportedly changed the settings across all profiles to reflect the new email address.

Facebook email addresses are by default the same as your public username. The company announced a messaging client that unified Facebook messages with email in 2010, which was promoted as a "seamless messaging" experience.

Emails sent to @facebook.com accounts are directed to the Facebook message center, the same way that an in-network message would be received.

Facebook email is meant to switch seamlessly from email, instant messaging and mobile messages. If a user is online, they can receive instant messages. Once they sign offline, people can use the same IM window, but the message will be sent to the user's inbox instead. The feature is similar to the Gmail and Gtalk integration. 

Blogger Gervase Markham was reportedly the first to write about the change and his objection to the automatic switch on his profile.

It wasn't so much that Facebook auto-assigned an email address to his account, rather the social network swapped his display email with his Facebook email address.

Facebook released this statement in response to the reports alleging that the social network was forcing email addresses onto people.

As we announced back in April, we've been updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site.

In addition to everyone receiving an address, we're also rolling out a new setting that gives people the choice to decide which addresses they want to show on their timelines.

Ever since the launch of timeline, people have had the ability to control what posts they want to show or hide on their own timelines, and today we're extending that to other information they post, starting with the Facebook address.

Users who want to change their display email address setting can do so by clicking on "About" on their profile page. Under contact info, edit contact information as desired.

22 Photos

Facebook through the years

[ralphing]

If FB was really being so helpful to everyone, they would have sent a message to each and every user to inform them of this feature, telling them how to switch to a FB email address. Instead, they sneak it on everyone to get 100% compliance, ensuring only 20% of users will complain and switch back, if they can figure out how to do it.

[credibility2]

It's very easy to hide this latest bit of unwanted FB rubbish. Go to www.lifehacker.com and they have a video clip that will show you how easy it is to hide this and restore your email address.

[-TeaPartyNation--]

BIG BROTHER facebook has become as evil as "DO EVIL" Governmentoogle.

[knewsteerrrrr]

which was promoted as a "seamless messaging" experience."

More like a seemless SPAMMING method now, because all someone needs now to send you SPAM is your farcebook name LOL!!!!
Once the spam lists make the rounds, they will know they just have to add @facebook.com to each and they got you as their captive audience.
You can really tell they though that one through! and it's all designed to make facebook RICHER than it already is by selling YOUR personal information.
Only FOOLS ever sign up for this garbage.

[nomealaska]

My old FB email address intentionally doesn't work, and my new one that they gave me doesn't work either. Perfect, just like I like it! Only Chinese hackers send email to those accounts! FB keeps complaining that they don't have a valid email and can't reach me, so I entered their new one in as my "valid email" but FB rejected it! I guess that their program doesn't like circular arguments!

[nomealaska]

My old FB email address intentionally doesn't work, and my new one that they gave me doesn't work either. Perfect, just like I like it! Only Chinese hackers send email to those accounts! FB keeps complaining that they don't have a valid email and can't reach me, so I entered their new one in as my "valid email" but FB rejected it! I guess that their program doesn't like circular arguments!

[nbcnews]

Talk about BIG brother. Facebook is seizing control of the net. by giving you their ext. right of the dot any email sent to you by someone else on any other server Google, Yahoo, Flickr, Apple even the big (e)will automatically be(redirected)pass through their servers.It was nice of them to ask first. I'd bet their not going to tell you this either.

[ratpatootie]

My default was to be logged in using my other email address, and when I tried to access Facebook.com as I usually do, I got nothing, not even the login screen. If I hadn't seen this article, I wouldn't have had a clue what was going on. After much futzing about, I finally reached a screen where I could re-enter my password and access my profile. Some kind of notice would seem to have been the least they could do.

[omnibus66]

Not only is Big Brother watching your every move, now he is going to make sure you get your email messages, no matter where you are. (Don't worry, He knows where that is)

[hypnotoad72]

And even with cell phone upgrades, if you see the "F" icon, see if you can delete it. It WILL transfer data, and I did not install this app of my own volition.

As much as I don't like the concept of rooting phones, it's disgusting that hackers are more liable to put out clean software versions that don't covertly take data and upload it.

[cyberus-2009]

Wonder what this revelation will do to the stock price ...

... how low can you go