Comment by ewjordan

What does Facebook's motives have to do with anything? The question under discussion is whether a random stranger who can convince one of my friends to sign up for a virtual pet should suddenly be able to spam me.

That is, indeed, the question under discussion.

But the question that should be under discussion is whether I should have the ability to toggle an "e-mail" field alongside the 18 other fields of information that Facebook allows me to expose to apps when a friend decides to sign up for a virtual pet. Facebook encourages me to share my pictures, my status updates, my location, my birthday, etc., with apps that my friends use, yet doesn't even allow me to choose whether to share my e-mail address.

For my protection, my ass. If that ability didn't go against their business interests, you can bet there'd be an option to allow that.