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Facebook, Others Giving User Private Data To Advertisers
superapecommando sends along a Wall Street Journal report that indicates that Facebook's privacy troubles may be just beginning. "Facebook, MySpace, and several other social networking sites have been sending data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers' names and other personal details, despite promises they don't share such information without consent. The practice, which most of the companies defended, sends user names or ID numbers tied to personal profiles being viewed when users click on ads. After questions were raised by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook and MySpace moved to make changes. By Thursday morning Facebook had rewritten some of the offending computer code. ... Several large advertising companies ... including Google Inc.'s DoubleClick and Yahoo Inc.'s Right Media, said they were unaware of the data being sent to them from the social networking sites, and said they haven't made use of it. ... The sites may have been breaching their own privacy policies as well as industry standards. ... Those policies have been put forward by advertising and Internet companies in arguments against the need for government regulation."
Guess the Journal forgot Rupert also owns MySpace.
they were unaware of the data being sent to them from the social-networking sites, and said they haven't made use of it
Ahh, they didn't use it. Then it's all right.
Nothing to see here.
I wonder if TPB could use the same defense. "Wait what? You can SEE the downloaded movies? Whoa!"
People still click on ads?
http://xkcd.com/743/
If you RTFA, they were doing it by simple technical accident. Unless the advertisers thought to scrape referrer URLs for usernames, they didn't get shit.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
You missed the boat. There was a time when deleting your account would, more or less, delete your account.
Now days it doesn't.
Today you should disband and pollute your data over a matter of months, and delete your account.
Then change your name, sex, nationality, and fake your own death.
Then finally change your name, sex, and nationality again.
We're not worried about geeks, because they are already using carefully created false identities which they have bought on the black market from Bulgarian ex-secret police. Plus, nobody wants their fucking data anyway.
We're worried about regular humans who don't have a clue and put their lives on the internet because the biggest corporations in the world have told them that it's perfectly OK and "the thing to do".
You are welcome on my lawn.
Social media sites that make money by selling the information you give them actually sell the information you give them...
News at 11