New Facebook privacy settings were unveiled in San Francisco in December 2009 but they have not stopped the controversy.New Facebook privacy settings were unveiled in San Francisco in December 2009 but they have not stopped the controversy. (Associated Press)

Facebook disabled its chat function Wednesday after it was discovered that a security flaw allowed users to see their friends’ live chats and pending friend requests.

The flaw was first reported by the technology blog TechCrunch.

Blogger Steve O’Hear said he was tipped off about the glitch and was able to use the “Preview my Profile” function to see friends’ private chats and requests. His blog includes a YouTube video showing how to do it.

After O’Hear alerted Facebook to the problem, the company took down its live chat function temporarily. As of Thursday, it was up and running again.

P.O.V.:

Facebook security: Are you frustrated by the network's privacy settings?

In a statement sent to media, Facebook admitted the problem and said it was working on a solution.

Under scrutiny

“For a limited period of time, a bug permitted some users’ chat messages and pending friend requests to be made visible to their friends by manipulating the “preview my profile” feature of Facebook privacy settings,” according to the statement.

The company also posted on its fan page a brief explanation of the problem, which drew more than 5,000 “likes” and 2,200 comments.

Facebook has come under much scrutiny lately over how it handles users’ data. Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart completed a 14-month investigation of Facebook last year, after which the company said it would implement better privacy settings this summer.

Specifically, the commissioner is concerned about how Facebook allows third-party developers who create games and quizzes to store users’ information indefinitely.

Facebook has 400 million users around the world.