Facebook Backtracks

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December 12th, 2007 by Nick

In a previous article I have discussed the investment from Microsoft into Facebook which has made them a serious player in the growing market of social advertising. User's put a great deal of information onto these sites, which they hand over with great readiness, search engines believe this to be perfect for advert targeting to specific user’s on these social sites.

This week however these boundaries were tested to breaking point.Facebook members have forced the social networking site to change the way a controversial ad system worked. More than 50,000 Facebook users signed a petition calling on the company to change or withdraw its Beacon advertising technology.

If and when different Facebook users went shopping online, Beacon told friends and businesses what they looked at or bought. Many considered the data sharing to be an intrusion too far.
As a result of this petition, Facebook's 55 million members will have more control over whether data about what they do online is used for Beacon. After complaints the site was invading privacy, Facebook changed Beacon from an opt-out system to opt in.

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