Facebook silently assigns '@facebook.com' addresses to users sans consent

Washington, June 26 (ANI): Facebook has assigned '@facebook.com' email addresses to all users and changed the settings across all profiles to reflect the new email address.

The Facebook email addresses are by default the same as a user's public username. The company announced a messaging client that unified Facebook messages with email in 2010, which was promoted as a "seamless messaging" experience.

According to CBS News, Facebook emails sent to @facebook.com accounts are directed to the Facebook message center, the same way that an in-network message would be received and is meant to switch seamlessly from email, instant messaging and mobile messages.

The feature, which is similar to the Gmail and Gtalk integration, enables a user to receive instant messages when he/she is online, and once they sign offline, people can use the same IM window, but the message will be sent to the user's inbox instead.

Facebook released a statement in response to the reports alleging that the social network was forcing email addresses onto people.As we announced back in April, we've been updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site. In addition to everyone receiving an address, we're also rolling out a new setting that gives people the choice to decide which addresses they want to show on their timelines," the statement said.

Users who want to change their display email address setting can do so by clicking on "About" on their profile page, and can edit the contact information as desired under 'Contact info'. (ANI)