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Facebook Instantly Sharing Your Data With Third Parties
For years at my old job, every single time we added a new sweepstakes, contest or any new data capture form, all of the corporate parties would sit around a table and discuss the various elements of what data we were capturing. The area that we always had debate centered around whether we would default the opt-in marketing box to on or off. We always made the default off because we only wanted customers on our lists that actually wanted to be on our lists. Clearly if we were at Facebook, the default option would have a different initial result.
Last night I asked on Twitter if the new Facebook “socialization” options would be automatically transferred to sites that are using the Facebook widgets and APIs. Everyone basically said the same thing – that you must click the button to connect the website with Facebook.
Today I’ve confirmed my fear…Facebook is sharing our profile and usage data with third parties from the first moment you land on one of their “trusted partners”. Sure you need to opt-in to this “instant personalization” but guess what… Facebook already checked the box for you!
Before I continue let me make it very clear that I am ok with websites enhancing their services for your pleasure using Facebook data when you specifically choose to – each and every time. And at a minimum, that checkbox should be opt-in not opt-out.
I asked my sister who is a very active Facebook user about the instant personalization and her response was, “Nooo!”
Please go have a look at Bobbi Newman’s post — she takes a detailed look at what Facebook is doing with their instant personalization and how to opt-out. What makes Bobbi’s investigation really stick is the bit that even if you turn off the instant personalization, your friends may just share your data with Facebook’s trusted partners anyway! Liz Gannes at GigaOm has additional thoughts and calls this selection a, “privacy hairball”.
To fully opt-out of the new instant personalization, you must do two things:
- Go to privacy settings which is under the profile link then Applications and Websites and uncheck the box at the bottom to remove Instant Personalization
- Then click on the links to Yelp, Pandora and Docs.om on Facebook and click on “Block Application”
It seems there are only a few trusted partners today. I can only assume that trusted partners really means “they paid us a bucket of cash”. And what this also means is that there will be more trusted partners in the future.
Will we ever see Google do the same thing? Imagine what Google could share with their partners based on how much Google knows about each of us.
I am disappointed in Facebook.
Are you ok with Facebook automatically sharing your data (and your friend data) when you land on Yelp without your specific authorization to share for that site?
I opted out as soon as I learned about this (about a month ago) but today I was using an on-line dictionary and I saw my own FB profile photo there inviting me to make a comment on the definition I was reading. So even though I opted out, this information of mine being shared with a FB partner site without me agreeing. Who can I contact about this? Do you have any suggestions?
I’m finding it more difficult to trust these social networking sites given their lack of privacy concerns. The facebook CEO also seems to have done some shady things in the early days of FB and has showed complete apathy towards the privacy concerns of the users. The lack of privacy is reaching absurd levels in social networking with other sites like Blippy appearing on the scene. Hopefully, facebook makes some changes soon.
In Germany The opt out is Standart. But I am leaving FB After they came out with this shit.
So far the reply to FB from us is ‘use a different browser for FB & delete all cookies after each session.’ Yeah, real simple for the large majority of FB users out there! What is really being shared here is the honest question which then requires a bit more thought and comprehension. Or to simplify: What does FB consider ‘public information’?
Is this the basic details that you concede to FB and the world by signing up such as Name, location and age? Maybe some interests like latest comic books read or musical preferences? If that’s the case then it’s all benign information. What does that really tell the developer or marketer behind an FB app or a trusted partner badge beyond using simple demographics to target there services to you accordingly.
If public information as defined by FB is whatever you choose to share with ‘friends’ such as workplace, contact information, political affiliation and religion, then FB is crossing the line and selling us out, without share any of the profits.
I aliased http://www.facebook.com and facebook.com to localhost on my machine and deleted all FB cookies from my regular browser. If/when I “need” to go to FB I’ll use a different browser than normal and purge the cookies on completion.
Why Facebook gets a pass on this when Google and Yahoo get keel-hauled for even the possibility of aggregating data like this is beyond me.
There’s always http://suicidemachine.org/
I am really disgusted by the concept behind this whole thing. The idea that I have to opt out of sharing my own information, then I have to opt out from each of the “trusted partners” individually to make sure my friends don’t inadvertently share my info is disturbing. What’s even worse is that, now, the onus is on me to keep up when Facebook adds new “trusted partners” to make sure I can opt out of those, too.
That said, these three partners don’t bother me at all, so I’m not so worried about it, in practice, as of right now.
yea just wait Curtiss – wait until facebook starts growing the trusted partners – would you object to citibank or ford having this info?
for me it’s always simple – i use facebook barely and when i do – it’s on a browser that i won’t use for anything else :)
I hate it and am considering deleting all my data and leave FB. Apparently they mistook Social Network for Socialism Network where all data is collectively owned. Shame on them.
Thanks for showing how to opt-out