Facebook and competitions?

[hartk10]

A large number of competitions using Facebook now seem to give this message 'xxxx.would like to access your public profile, friend list, birthday, hometown, photos and likes.'

That all seems a bit intrusive to me and I generally don't bother with these competitions even though there are some good prizes up for grabs. C

Can anyone tell me what is the risk involved here and why these companies want this detail. With respected companies is it safe to do this.

Anyway around NOT giving the information but still entering the competition

[abraXus]

it's an app they developed - it's normal, but it can be abused if created by someone with malicious intent

most "competitions" on facebook arent real anyways, they are tricks to get people to agree to something they wouldnt normally agree to