Facebook has just announced at their Facebook’s Developer Garage that developers on their platform will be given access to their users email addresses.

The goal is to create a more ‘open’ Facebook and let developers feel their users/customers are actually their own, rather than just Facebook’s.

For developers, this will mean in-Facebook notifications will be disabled and developers will have to contact users via email to update them about application updates. For your average Facebook user, the consequences of such a move are significant.

Whenever a user ‘installs’ an application, the developer is handed their email address, along with first name and last name. This will not be optional, therefore users are going to have to accept that developers will be able to store all these details for use in regard to that application but as well as for future use.

If we for a moment consider the number of Facebook users who use applications (figures being researched but we can assume it’s huge), it’s a daunting prospect to consider that email accounts will be freely passed