Via ComputerWorld -
December 03, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- Facebook Inc. has confirmed the findings of a CA Inc. security researcher that the social-networking site's Beacon ad service is more intrusive than previously acknowledged, an admission that contradicts statements made previously by Facebook executives and representatives.
Facebook's controversial Beacon ad system tracks the activities of its users even if they are logged off from the social-networking site and have previously declined the option of having their activities on specific external sites broadcast to their Facebook friends, a company spokesman said via e-mail.
Although the spokesman said that Facebook deletes the data without using it, the admission will probably fan the flames of criticism of the service by privacy advocates.
The Facebook spokesman did not initially reply to a request for further explanation on how the Beacon action gets triggered if a user is logged off from Facebook, when the social-networking site's ability to track its users' activities should be inactive.
It's also unclear whether Facebook plans to modify Beacon so it doesn't track and report on the off-Facebook activities of logged-off users.
Beacon is a key part of the Facebook Ads platform introduced by the social networking firm with much fanfare several weeks ago. Beacon tracks certain activities of Facebook users on more than 40 participating Web sites, including those of online retailers Blockbuster and Fandango, and reports those activities to the users' Facebook friends, unless told not to do so.
Off-Facebook activities that can be broadcast to one's Facebook friends include purchasing a product and the signing up for a service.
The program has been blasted by advocacy groups like MoveOn.org, and by individual users whose recent purchases and other Web activities have been transmitted to their Facebook friends. This has led to some embarrassing situations, such as blowing the surprise of holiday presents.
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Boy, I would so delete my account if I could....bastard Facebook.
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