Facebook is facing a difficult future as it tries to exploit user data to turn a profit - European regulators are considering sweeping reform of data regulations to prevent social networks from over-exploiting the private data of their users. Changes would extend data protection rules to third party application developers which use social networking profile data to function. They would also extend European data protection rules to firms operating in Europe - not just those based in Europe. Social networking sites increasingly rely on third party application developers, not just to make their sites more attractive to users, but also to turn a profit.
