With a fledgling social network on the rise (Google+), it’s time I rant a little about a pet peeve of mine.

Many social networking sites offer the ability to import your contacts from one service into theirs. I know it’s convenient and saves you a lot of time, and helps them attract new users, but what about the privacy of the people you’re ingesting into the new social network?

Without any consent, I’ve seen my contact information freely given away to social networks so that my data can be mined and used to someone else’s financial gain. My contact information is MINE, given to my trusted friends. It’s not theirs to give away to third parties.

Developers — please do the right thing and stop doing this. It’s sleazy.