Facebook took more steps to stop third-party applications from sharing identifying information about users with advertising and Internet tracking companies.
Facebook recently learned that some software developers behind outside applications popular in the online community were "inadvertently" sharing user identification numbers due to the way Web browser programs work.
Facebook modified its policy to forbid user identification data from leaving third-party applications and for such information to remain confidential if used by analytics services connected to programs.
Facebook said that its investigation into the situation revealed that some developers were paid by a data broker for UIDs in violation of the social network's policy.
Violating developers are being placed on 6-month moratoriums and will have their data practices audited to make sure they are in compliance with rules at the social network, according to Facebook.
The moratorium was said to affect fewer than a dozen, mostly small developers, none of which are in the top ten applications at Facebook.
Two members of the US Congress have asked Facebook to explain how applications transmitted information about users to advertising and Web tracking companies in violation of the social network's rules.
All of the 10 most popular applications on Facebook were transmitting unique user ID numbers to outside companies.. They include Zynga's FarmVille, with 59 million users, Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille.
Facebook is the world's most popular social network with around 500 million users, but it has been dogged by complaints about privacy protection.
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