Your Favorite Online Games May Not Be as "Free" As You Think

How badly do you want to win a virtual pig online? Badly enough to give away your real identity? According to MSNBC, at least 60 million people now play online games like FarmVille, Café World or Pet Society through social media Websites like Facebook and MySpace. The games are a big hit with social network users because they’re easy to play, they’re fun to play with friends, and because they’re relatively free. Unfortunately, there may be serious hidden costs to these online games, which may make you think twice about playing. That’s the word from Mike Arrington, a social networking expert who wrote the book Scamville. He says one thing all of these games have in common is that in order to play, you first have to click a button giving permission to share your personal information with third party companies. Once you do that, security experts say you’re opening the door for potential abuse.

For starters: Some game developers might collect details like your age, where you live, or where you went to school, then turn around and sell that information to advertisers. Another way these “free” games can cost you is if you agree to some kind of marketing deal. For example: FarmVille gives some players the option of paying $5 to upgrade to a new blue barn, or getting that barn for free by accepting a one-month subscription to a video rental service, like NetFlix. What the offer doesn’t tell you is that unless you cancel after one month, you’ll be stuck with a $15 charge on your credit card. Even if you avoid all the marketing offers, online games can hurt you in another way, because any time you play, everyone in your social network receives a message detailing your in-game status. For instance, a typical message might read: “Sally is sharpening her culinary skills in Café World” or “Brad needs your help in Mafia Wars.” In other words: You’re announcing to the entire world that you’re online playing games when you should be doing something more productive – like finishing homework, doing chores, or if you happen to be playing games at work, doing your job.