When you buy a book or movie online--or make a political contribution--do you want that information automatically shared with the world on Facebook?
Most people would call that a huge invasion of privacy. But recently, Facebook began doing just that. People across the country saw private purchases they made on other sites displayed on their Facebook News Feeds.
Facebook encourages companies to get "word-of-mouth promotion for your business" to "millions" by using the feature that makes this happen. Sign the petition today
A lot of us love Facebook--it's helping to revolutionize the way we connect with each other. But they need to take privacy seriously.
A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to Facebook.
Found this great link from Download Squad for Firefox users who want to block the entire Facebook 'beacon' to deter info sharing. I'm going to post it for Shaping Youth readers soon, since we tend to be a bit creeped out by usurping privacy...at least I do, anyway ;-)
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/11/09/how-to-block-facebook-beacon/
Posted by: Shaping Youth | November 26, 2007 at 01:17 AM
Beth, I agree with you here completely, and this is one of the reasons I hesitate with using Facebook.
On the flip side, they provide a lot of technology for free to their users, so why shouldn't they leverage what they have in an advertising way.
By the way, have you ever read the fine-print we all accept regarding how much Facebook owns when we upload or post things to it? Facebook owns a lot more of our information than it seems at first!
Posted by: Jeffrey Keefer | November 27, 2007 at 12:50 PM