My browser blocks it, not even letting it load.
Mark Zuckerburg clearly stated what he thought about people who trusted him. And I'm not one of them.
Facebook 'Like' button draws privacy scrutiny
Summary
The Like button allows Facebook to track people as they switch from CNN.com to Yelp.com to ESPN.com, all of which are sites that have said they will implement the feature.
Topics
When Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a "Like" button that publishers could place on their Web pages, he predicted it would make the Web smarter and "more social."
What Zuckerberg didn't point out is that widespread use of the Like button allows Facebook to track people as they switch from CNN.com to Yelp.com to ESPN.com, all of which are sites that have said they will implement the feature.
Even if someone is not a Facebook user or is not logged in, Facebook's social plugins collect the address of the Web page being visited and the Internet address of the visitor as soon as the page is loaded--clicking on the Like button is not required. If enough sites participate, that permits Facebook to assemble a vast amount of data about Internet users' browsing habits.
For more on this story, read Facebook 'Like' button draws privacy scrutiny on CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 5 Talkback(s)
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Tholian_532nd Jun 2010 -
no script ftw
Noscript will prevent the javascript from running. awww...too bad.
zdnet-registraion2nd Jun 2010 -
RE: Facebook 'Like' button draws privacy scrutiny
I think the matter of Facebook and privacy deserves some honest discussion.
We Americans are spoiled rotten. We take it for granted that we should have access to all the genuine benefits Facebook has to offer: being able to reconnect with people we knew 30 years ago in high school, or re-connect with people we knew back in ~1993 on long-defunct Usenet newsgroups, et cetera. We take it for granted the benefits FB offers in terms of being able to share your interests with kindred souls. And we take it for granted that all this should be FREE!
So how does FB support itself? By selling info to businesses which market mainly through the mail and through the internet. If you own a business, you might be willing to pay for information that would enable you to more carefully target E-mail and snailmail advertisements, so as to reduce wasting your efforts on those who are not likely to be interested in whatever it is you are selling. Selling ad space and selling profile information to businesses, is the only thing that keeps FB free instead of us having to pay a fee to subscribe.
AlexKovnat2nd Jun 2010 -
RE: Facebook 'Like' button draws privacy scrutiny
I never click on these buttons and I'm glad now that I have learned this bit of information. I like Facebook, but Facebook is slowly getting out of hand and sooner or later they will have to be cut down to size. Selling space is one thing, but selling profile information infringes on our privacy rights doesn't it? That is a bit nerve wrecking. Now they are tracking you if you are click this like it button? That's too much!
So, I guess the best way not to get caught up in all of this information selling and tracking hype is to either not use Facebook at all or don't put any real information on it and definitely don't click on any of these like buttons.
Gadget Girl2nd Jun 2010 -
Doesn't sound much worse than what current ad networks do
The google ad network can track all visits on pages that have Google ads. Other web stats counters can also do this. This is not a novel practice on today's web.
luch34th Jun 2010
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