'Most Used Words' on Facebook

Facebook Millions Being Used by 'Most Used Words'

It seems innocuous: a mini app within Facebook that looks at your previous posts and makes one of those graphical mashups of the words you've used most often on the site.

It's a good way to get a sense of what's important to you and show it off to your friends, right? Well it's also a great way for the app's developer, Vonvon, to collect your user name, profile picture, home town, education history, friend list, IP address, device information, photos, and practically everything you've ever posted on Facebook in one fell swoop. 

That's according to an investigation from Comparitech (via Wired), which announced that the terms of service for "Most Used Words" states that users are willing to "give up almost every private detail" about themselves to use the app. More than 17 million Facebook users have tried the app so far, which makes 17 million people that have given consent to Vonvon to "use any non-personally-identifying information" provided by your Facebook account and share it with third parties without further notice or consent -- because Vonvon counts the very mention of this practice, included in its privacy policy, as the implied notice and permission.

If you're tempted to use this app, maybe take a notepad and pen, look at your personal timeline and count the words yourself.