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Facebook beacon mess up

Posted on November 21, 2007
Filed Under Social Networking |

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An online activist website MoveOn.org is protesting how the Facebook beacon ads platform is violating users privacy.  The Facebook beacon service sends news feed to a user’s friends list when the user makes a purchase on a partner website, e.g. Amazon, Coca Cola, etc.  It has been reported that the news feed has revealed to a user what his girlfriend has bought him for Christmas!

In response to MoveOn.org’s protest, Facebook issued the following statement.  I am quoting what Facebook said in the statement.

“but in this case, the MoveOn.org-led group misrepresents how Facebook Beacon works. Beacon gives users an easy way to share relevant information from other sites with their friends on Facebook.”

Beacon, which is part of Facebook’s new social advertising strategy, broadcasts information about members’ activity on third-party partner sites to their friends’ “News Feeds.”

“Information is shared with a small selection of a user’s trusted network of friends, not publicly on the Web or with all Facebook users.  Users also are given multiple ways to choose not to share information from a participating site, both on that site and on Facebook.”

Adam Green, MoveOn.org’s spokesman quickly responded.  I quote: 

“If Facebook’s argument is that sharing private information with hundreds or thousands of someone’s closest ‘friends’ is not the same as making that information ‘public,’ that shows how weak Facebook’s argument is.  Facebook users across the nation are outraged that the books, movies, and gifts they buy privately on other sites are being displayed publicly without permission–and it’s time for Facebook to reverse this massive privacy breach.”

My conclusion to all of this is the Facebook beacon is a tracker program and a tracker program will track all your activities.  If a user’s activity is being tracked then his/her privacy is invaded.  I have a question for Facebook.  Do you think users are benefiting from the Facebook beacon news feed or is this creative marketing gone bad?

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    One Response to “Facebook beacon mess up”

    1. Facebook beacon mess up | Network Marketing on November 21st, 2007 1:28 pm

      [...] Iha wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt“Information is shared with a small selection of a user’s trusted network of friends, not publicly on the Web or with all Facebook users,” the statement explained. … Do you think users are benefiting from Facebook beacon news feed or is this creative marketing gone bad?… [...]

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