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"Facebook is adding &amp;#039;likes&amp;#039; to pages on behalf of its users when a URL is shared via private message, research suggests. A US security expert discovered that sending a web address to a friend automatically adds two likes to that page, suggesting that the social network is scanning private messages.   Adding a comment to a story within Facebook also adds to the tally, regardless of whether the written remark is positive or negative. Facebook has responded to the report&amp;#039;s findings and issued a statement denying that privacy information has been exposed. &amp;quot;Absolutely no private information has been exposed,&amp;quot; they told TechRadar in a statement. &amp;quot;Each time a person Shares a URL to Facebook, including through messages, the number of Shares displayed on the social plugin for that website increases. &amp;quot;Our systems parse the URL being shared in order to render the appropriate preview, and to also ensure that the message is not spam. &amp;quot;These counts do not affect the privacy settings of content, and URLs shared through private messages are not attributed publicly with user profiles.&amp;quot; &amp;gt; Facebook clamping down on &amp;#039;fake likes&amp;#039; Although Facebook also stressed that the addition likes are anonymous and will not appear on users&amp;#039; timelines, critics have pointed out that people who share pages to highlight negative content are making the site appear more popular. The revelation follows Facebook&amp;#039;s announcement that it now reached 1 billion users worldwide. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/internet/news/a410470/facebook-adding-likes-on-users-behalf-says-report/>