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Facebook ducks U.S. privacy questions

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by Lisa Vaas on January 11, 2012 | Comments (11)
FILED UNDER: Featured, Law & order, Privacy, Social networks

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Don't show me this again

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Two U.S. congressman have charged Facebook with evading questions on whether it tracks users for targeted ads. Meanwhile, Facebook has gone ahead and filed a patent that enables it to do just that, all the while insisting it has no intent to track users when they're not logged into the social media network. The congressmen, Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, and Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into accusations that Facebook still tracks users who've logged out, in spite of Facebook's claims to have fixed the issue. Here's what Barton told ZDNet's Emil Protalinski about Facebook talking from both sides of its gigantic social media face:
Facebook seems to be saying one thing and doing another. In the companys response, it talks a lot about how they dont currently "track" users online, but they just asked for a patent that would allow them to do just that. Why ask for something you dont ever plan on using? I dont believe that Facebook adequately addresses that question. If they get a patent that among other things explicitly mentions tracking the

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information about the activities of users of a social networking system while on another domain - how will it be used?

The patent in question, filed on Feb. 8, 2011 and granted on Sept. 22, 2011, is titled "Communicating Information in a Social Network System about Activities from Another Domain." Uncrunched has elegantly outlined the logic flow chart thusly:
"Facebook does not track users across the web," Facebook spokesperson, Sept. 25, 2011 "Generally, unlike other major Internet companies, we have no interest in tracking people." - Facebook employee, Sept. 25, 2011 "A method is described for tracking information about the activities of users of a social networking system while on another domain." Sept. 22, 2011 Facebook Patent application

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gcluley: RT @NakedSecurity ICANN now accepting new gTLD applications; are cybersquatters still a real risk? http://t.co/vRP937DQ about 2 hours ago gcluley: r/t Facebook ducks US privacy questions, digs itself a hole.. http://t.co/3GsUFuwB about 4 hours ago SophosLabs: Great post by @ChetWisniewski: Despite what you might think, IT security *is* your business http://t.co/11rURKIU about 4 hours ago SophosLabs: RT @NakedSecurity Stratfor's back, defiant but blushing over unencrypted subscriber data http://t.co/vsiUvVs6 about 6 hours ago

Again, Uncrunched puts it nicely: "Whoops." On top of its wiggly response to the congressmen, Facebook also snubbed a Dec. 14 U.S. Congressional caucus meeting on privacy, the justification being, ironically enough, that the caucus wasn't private. "The social networking giant indicated their preference to hold discussions in private," Protalinski blogged on Tuesday. The purpose of the caucus was to explore Facebook's recent settlement with the FTC and to probe the company's plans to protect online privacy of children and teens. That settlement, which came at the end of November, requires the company to submit to regular privacy audits for the next 20 years and to play straight by, among other things, giving customers "clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers' express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established." Will the FTC settlement and its required audits bring about material change to Facebook's privacy practices? It's hard to imagine it will, given how cagey Facebook is being about its privacy practices and intents with the Congressmen. While not wanting to give away trade secrets in a public caucus may reflect defensible business smarts, Facebook just doesn't have a good track record with transparency. Perhaps a few more Congressmen getting ticked off may help to effect a move in that direction. One can hope. Creative Commons photo of See, Hear and Speak No Evil courtesy of

Identity Photogr@phy's Flickr photostream.

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Tags: advertising, congressmen, cookies, Facebook, ftc, internet tracking, patent, Privacy, Tracking

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Comments (11)
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Julie 1 day ago

+1

Sounds like Face Book is tracking it users when "off line." They are lying to everybody by the sound of it...even themselves. Good luck to the two US congressmen.

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Julie 1 day ago

+1

There should be some "Enforced" laws regarding "Privacy". I know one is on a "Public Domain"...but still. A person should still be entitled to Privacy.

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jay 1 day ago

+2

I believe loss of privacy is a planned event which features numbing the younger generation especially to any expectation of privacy in their daily lives. Control of information access and dispersion is a major propaganda tool predicated on loss of privacy and willingness to forego any expectation of such. With critical thinking no longer taught at most schools and obedience to authority the educational

mantra, the sheeple are being prepped to become compliant consumers of force fed products and services. The political tangent also becomes obvious.

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Jacker 19 hours ago I hate Facebook really... I hope that site gets shutdown! Please continue bashing it with negative news stories too :) RIP FACEBOOK PLEASE! 1 reply active 7 hours ago
Lisa Vaas 7 hours ago

+1

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+1

ya know, whenever we write about Facebook, the hits go through the roof. people are seriously passionate about it, whether in the form of loathing like yours or a type of chemical dependency mixed with aggravation (I think that's how I'd characterize my Facebook feelings). I don't like to pick on a company, most certainly not as a way to pander to the let's-get-lots-of-clicks gluttony, but honestly, it's hard to avoid writing negative news stories when news like this just keeps coming up. In other words, to be more concise, Yes, Jacker, thanks for the encouragement. we most certainly will keep writing negative news stories, as long as Facebook keeps producing negative news. And when/if they're the source of positive news, well, we'll be right there to cover that, as well.

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Emjay 8 hours ago

+1

Facebook claims not to follow it's users off-line, but what about the advertisers? Either way, if you are uncomfortable with idea of being followed around, then toss your cookies, or get out of the "social" arena.

Reply @tyw7 5 hours ago

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I have deleted my permanently Facebook account due to the rising privacy concerns. If anybody wants to do that see http://www.facebook.com/help/? faq=224562897555674.

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njorl 4 hours ago Everyone, here, seems to be rushing to the most negative conclusion.

Owning a patent for a mechanism does not equate to intending to put that mechanism to use. By controlling the patent at issue, Facebook may wish to impede its competitors from doing something it would rather not do itself. The effect of this would be beneficial to on-line privacy.

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Doodles 4 hours ago

You know...Facebook is free. They don't charge you to use their application, and you do so at your own free will. Nobody MAKES you use Facebook. So where do they get the money to keep Facebook up and running? From the advertisers. That's who pays for Facebook. So Facebook caters to whom? The advertisers. Wanna keep your personal information private? Don't put it on Facebook. Want not to be tracked (it's not like stalking, honest!) then don't use Facebook. It's as easy as that! I personally love Facebook and the interaction I have with so many people. It's such an easy way to communicate with my friends and family, too. So what if they target a few ads at me because they know what city and state I live in. Maybe I'll take advantage of one of the offers they give me. Maybe I wouldn't have known about that offer otherwise. Tracking is up to you. If you don't want ads personalized to you, then don't include your city and state when you register. Don't put personal info on there. Or...just don't Facebook. :-)

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Doodles 4 hours ago

Emjay is right. Clear your cookies and dump your browsing history every time you use Facebook, or just stay off of social sites.

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T. Anne 3 hours ago

I honestly believe they already do it - I usually log-in to check up on things and log right back out... yet somehow, all of a sudden - when I started doing a lot of specific searches online, the ads on FB started to match the type of stuff I was searching for. I find that highly suspicious! If those ads were there regularly before I started looking for those things specifically, it wouldn't be... while I highly doubt this is the case - I do know that it could be argued I probably just didn't notice them since I wasn't looking for them and once I was it started to stand out... doubtful, but yes, possible...

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About the author Lisa Vaas has written about technology - specifically, security, databases, technology careers, resume writing and the applicant tracking systems that eat and/or spit out resumes - since 1995. Her stories have appeared in venues including the print and/or online versions of eWEEK, PC Magazine, Computerworld, CIO, IT Expert Voice, HP's Input/Output, and TheLadders. Read more from Lisa on her website at www.lisavaas.com. View all posts by Lisa Vaas

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