Facebook privacy Beacon boo-boo (and porcine choon)
- TAGS:Beacon, Coca Cola, Facebook, privacy, social network
- IT TOPICS:Desktop Apps, Government & Regulation, Internet, Security
How do you know IT Blogwatch: in which Facebook comes under fire (again) for privacy problems. Not to mention an irritating meaty song that'll stick in your head all Monday...
Juan Carlos Perez reportz:
Facebook's controversial Beacon online ad system goes much further than anyone has imagined in tracking people's Web activities outside the popular social networking site ... will report back to Facebook on members' activities ... even if the users are logged off Facebook and have declined having their activities broadcast. [more]
Kara Swisher adds:
Facebook has not given users a global opt-out of the controversial marketing system in which the social network is seeking to link behavior and advertising more tightly for supposedly bigger payoffs. Of course, after more bad publicity ... it’s a good bet that Facebook will be forced into an opt-out for all solution. [more]
Joe "Duck" Hunkins quacks:
Facebook ... foolishly touted [it] as some sort of landmark in the history of advertising. Beacon turned out to be more a nasty stain mark as bloggers roundly criticized the approach, and then the New York Times and major advertisers like Coca Cola basically said they were lied to by Facebook. [more]
But Paul Kedrosky shrugs:
I'm trying really hard to care ... [but] I can't seem to find the energy to get worked up ... C'mon, it isn't surprising Facebook wants to make money on its social network service via your purchase data. If you don't like the way it wants to do it, don't use the service. [more]
Leigh Himel disagrees:
It heartens me that while some people think the Facebook concerns are an over-reaction, that in the end, it's the law of the network that prevails. This isn't the first time (Sony root kit anyone?) and it won't be the last, but it's a great lesson to all those companies and organizations out there. [more]
As if to illustrate Leigh's point, Andrew Brogdon writes:
I was playing some rinky-dink flash game on kongregate.com and all of the sudden a little DHTML window panned up from the bottom of the browser and said "Tower Defense has added a story to your Facebook profile." ... I haven't been back to kongregate since. [more]
But arth1 suggests a different target for ire:
Um, why bitch at kongregate.com or other sites for using Beacon, instead of just ditching Facebook? Without a Facebook account, this won't a problem on any site. [more]
Meanwhile, Paul Boutin gets all territorial:
Coke is having the same "Huh?" reaction, and has withdrawn from early participation in Beacon ads. I confess: I'm biased. I went to MIT, so whenever a Harvard man like Zuckerberg opens his mouth, I start listening for the bull****. I wish I were wrong more often. [more]
And finally...
Buffer overflow:
- Groklaw:The Nigerian OLPC Dispute - How Does It Look?
- Om Malik: Emerging Markets As Cutting Edge Tech Test Beds
- Data Center Knowledge: Customers: Uptime Trumps Green
- iface thoughts: Why Giving Away Your Code Is Not Dangerous
- Scobleizer: "I love Fake Steve Jobs" and Facebook's PR crisis
- Bijan Sabet: Getting rid of the non-compete clause everywhere
Other Computerworld bloggers:
- Mike Elgan: Google leaks info on future of online apps
- Mark Hall: Cognitive dissonance spreading about Internet security
- Ryan Faas: How the iPhone changed my mobile habits
- Seth Weintraub: All is not well in AT&T-Apple land
- Shark Tank: Professional courtesy
- Douglas Schweitzer: Get if Off Your Chest !
- Shark Bait: One UPS required - immediately
Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.
Previously in IT Blogwatch:
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