Facebook is actively mulling over plans to recommence the rollout of a terminated feature that let third-party apps to request sharing of phone numbers and addresses.

The concerned feature that allows the optional sharing of personal information was first announced in January, but was aborted following severe criticism from privacy advocates and the Congress. However, personal information was shared only after the user clicked the “Allow” button.

Representatives Edward Markey and Joe Barton lambasted the social-networking site for the introducing the features, claiming the pop-up permissions window was insufficient. Some privacy groups and representatives questioned the company how third-party apps, like Farmville, received users’ contact information.

Clarifying company’s stance on the issue, Marne Levine from facebook, said, “Facebook considers risks to minors in all its new product features, and this is no exception, as we are actively considering whether to enable applications to request contact information from minors at all.”

Responding to the representatives’ concerns over the privacy issue, the company claims that it is planning to deploy more efficient controls to let users clearly know what personal information they are sharing with third-party apps.

Facebook also claims that it is planning to restrict users under the age of 18 years from granting third-party companies permission to access their personal details.