It was a little over a year ago when Facebook faced loud criticism for the unveiling of its News Feed feature. After a public apology and a few tweaks, the News Feed remains and is a convenient feature for many users. Facebook is mired in controversy once again, this time for something called Beacon.
Facebook’s Beacon essentially lets a user’s friends know when he or she visits an affiliated site, and what items, if any, are purchased. It was also supposed to make it easier for the site to deliver more targeted ads on its pages. This feature has garnered the ire of many users, and has sparked a petition and Facebook group pushed forth by MoveOn.org on November 20, 2007, which attracted over 50,000 Facebook users in less than 10 days.
One user who signed the petition indicated that, thanks to Beacon, he already knows what his girlfriend bought him for Christmas.
There were different understandings of the nature of the feature, which led to Coca-Cola dropping out of the affiliate partnership soon after the controversy began. Coca-Cola was under the impression that the program would be opt-in by nature, when in reality Beacon was an opt-out feature for Facebook users.
Since then, Overstock.com and Travelocity joined Coca-Cola in jumping ship, which may have helped them avoid legal troubles associated with the privacy issues at hand.
To add to the fire, it was discovered that Beacon was sending user information even after a user had logged out of his or her Facebook account.
Facebook has become an online social network darling in recent months, and has experienced huge increases in its membership since it opened up to audiences outside of schools, and since it allowed developers to build applications for use on the site.
While it’s unlikely that this hiccup will bring Facebook down, it may lend some evidence to the notion that Facebook is not yet ready to dominate the Web, as many have speculated. Legal issues aside, it appears that this pattern of carelessness will not bode well for its user base, which appears to be keen on these sensitive privacy issues.
Beacon may prove to be a costly mistake for Facebook and its partners.
Sources:
http://www.redherring.com/Home/23224
http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/2007/12/03/
facebook-loses-advertisers-as-concerns-deepen
Jason Hahn
e: jhahn221@gmail.com
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