Facebook Testing Screen-Tracking Software For Users

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Facebook Testing Screen-Tracking Software For Users

Posted by timothy on Wednesday October 30, 2013 @06:04AM from the happy-pre-hallowe'en dept.

cagraham writes "Facebook is currently testing software that would track user's cursor movements, as well as monitor how often a user's newsfeed was visible on their mobile phone, according to the Wall Street Journal. The additional data from such tracking would potentially let Facebook raise their ad prices, as they could deliver even more information about user's on-site behavior to advertisers, such as how long users hovered over specific ads. In order to analyze the extra data, Facebook will utilize a custom version of Hadoop."

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The product... by mythosaz · 2013-10-30 06:06 · Score: 5, Informative

Remember folks, you're not the customer, you're the product.
1. Re:The product... by kilfarsnar · 2013-10-30 06:16 · Score: 3
  
  Remember folks, you're not the customer, you're the product.
  No kidding. Facebook: not even once.
  
  --
  "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
2. Re:The product... by cayenne8 · 2013-10-30 06:18 · Score: 1
  
  Hey..yet another reason NOT to join facebook.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
3. Re:The product... by TheCarp · 2013-10-30 06:25 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  This is exactly why I have taken the attitude I have: If I am the product then I will make sure they get what they paid for!
  I mostly ignore the ads, but I look for the ones I "like", and by "like" I mean the ones that annoy me, or make me feel like they are dishonest or even just, giving out a messgage that I dislike. Then.... I comment on them.
  The beauty of this? I hover over them... a lot, I click on them a lot, then I spew out trollish comments intended to convince people other than what the advertisement was shooting for. The beauty of this is,....it brings me more of the same kinds of ad, so I can take my hobby forward to the next round!
  The "criminal justice schools" ads are the best, especially since they never remove comments or block anyone. The MA state lottory tried advertising to me, and they actually removed my comments and blocked me. Apparently they don't like being told that they lie about the odds (if a casino offers me a bet, pays that bet and taxes out taxes for the state, thats one thing... when the state does it themselves, they are actually fraudulently stating the payout, and thus the pot odds) or that even if they didn't their odds of wining are abysmal.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
4. Re:The product... by Mitreya · 2013-10-30 06:29 · Score: 1
  
  Remember folks, you're not the customer, you're the product.
  Sometimes against your will, too. You might be a commodity brought in by other "products"
  People have posted pictures/tagged me without my knowledge.
5. Re:The product... by CastrTroy · 2013-10-30 06:34 · Score: 1
  
  Personally, I've found that I've been able to get the ads on Facebook to behave moderately well by actually clicking the little X on the ads that don't apply. Usually I'll select "against my viewpoints" or whatever it says. But sometimes other options. By just removing a few ads / companies, I've been able to get rid of a lot of the nuissance stuff, and most of what shows up is real products, that I may actually be interested in, from companies who aren't just trying to scam me.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
6. Re:The product... by CelticWhisper · 2013-10-30 06:37 · Score: 1
  
  This is the reason I (grudgingly) have a Facebook account. I'd have loved to refuse to ever sign up, but the only way to control other people's tagging of me was to have an account so I could forcibly remove the tags.
  
  --
  Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
  http://www.tsanewsblog.com
7. Re:The product... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 06:41 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Fuckerberg should just go jump off a cliff without a parachute. The world will be much better off.
  Uh, sorry, but I find far more blame in the 100 million users lining Fuckerberg's pockets. The world would be much better off without mass ignorance. Fuckerberg just created a tool. Ignorance towards privacy and security ensured its survival.
  Learn to put blame where it belongs, and recognize what truly made him rich.
8. Re:The product... by IndustrialComplex · 2013-10-30 06:45 · Score: 2
  
  So you are doing a bit of work for them to give them more of your information so that they can more effectively convince you to part with your money.
  I mean, my hobbies cost me money too, but you've got a bit of a strange one there.
  
  --
  Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
9. Re:The product... by Archangel+Michael · 2013-10-30 07:24 · Score: 1
  
  I effectively have a "brain filter" in place where I ignore ads. The places that have the annoying flashing adds that try to install crapware/trojans/spyware onto my computer are permablocked and never visited again. I classify those sites/ads as "actively hostile" and thus won't even give the site a second chance. But then again, I am not their target audience, so they probably don't give a shit.
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
10. Re:The product... by jovius · 2013-10-30 07:27 · Score: 1
  
  The best option is to completely disregard advertising.
  The facebook will still have a nicely tracked trail of your behavior, and the advertisers made you participate in some way. Your actions may be visible to your friends, who are so also exposed to the same advertisers by you. Now you are almost naming the companies and brands even, so that's only a continuation of the campaign... With a cunning strategy and successful execution the overall visibility grows huge.
11. Re:The product... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  Good luck finding a job without a FB account. Virtually every employer will ask for the ID
  LOLwut? What crappy industry do you work in? I've never once been asked for such a thing by any employer or potential employer.
12. Re:The product... by cayenne8 · 2013-10-30 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  Good luck finding a job without a FB account. Virtually every employer will ask for the ID. Oh, you want to listen to Spotify? Click here to login through Facebook.
  Want access to local events? They are posted on FB first.
  Really?
  Funny, I've never had a problem getting a gig without a FB account, and no one has ever even asked me for information on one.
  Then again..I tend to do jobs that require a clearance...that might be a sign of why not putting a ton of crap out on social media sites is a good thing?
  Not that familiar with Spotify....and I can assure you, with 20 different events going on at the same time ever weekend in New Orleans, I have no problem finding out what's going on without having FB.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
13. Re:The product... by Mitchell314 · 2013-10-30 08:23 · Score: 2
  
  It's their privacy and data to work with, not yours. Get off your high horse.
  
  --
  I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
14. Re:The product... by Kleen13 · 2013-10-30 09:22 · Score: 1
  
  I love that I can't remove the preloaded App from my phone without rooting it. Reminds me of Compaq.
  
  --
  That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
15. Re:The product... by Kleen13 · 2013-10-30 09:24 · Score: 1
  
  I lied. I fucking hate it.
  
  --
  That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
16. Re:The product... by ApplePy · 2013-10-30 09:29 · Score: 1
  
  Good luck finding a job without a FB account. Virtually every employer will ask for the ID.
  I would tell them two things: One, I don't have one, and never will. And two, even if I did, it wouldn't be any of your fuckin' business anyway.
  Then I'd point out that I'm more likely to be a productive employee because I won't be wasting half my work day on it like the brain-dead zombies down the hall.
  If you don't like some bullshit policy, don't knuckle under to it.
  
  --
  That I'm right, and you don't like it, doesn't mean I'm a troll.
17. Re:The product... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 10:07 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for your concern but I can hate both comfortably.
18. Re:The product... by icebike · 2013-10-30 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  My mouse should be private. Also, I'd prefer if my typing was private until a send was approved by me.
  Also, maybe the way to surf the internet is to download the internet to local storage, and then just surf the local storage. For feeds, comment sections, and the like, well download a smaller portion of the internet
  But your mouse is't private now.
  Facebook isn't the first to do this, other advertisers are already putting this tracking into mouse hovers over their ads. Just Google mouse hover tracking. Google may be the ultimate culprit since they server the bulk of ads, and they Patented this technology 3 years ago.
  
  --
  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
19. Re:The product... by lgw · 2013-10-30 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  Good luck finding a job without a FB account. Virtually every employer will ask for the ID.
  
  I wasn't even asked about my Facebook account when I interviewed with Facebook. What industry do you work in?
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
20. Re:The product... by TheCarp · 2013-10-31 06:01 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't enjoy it until I realized I was likely costing them money by doing it.
  Its kind of like registering dislike for snail mail marketers by sending their business reply envelopes back with random scraps of paper in them.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
21. Re:The product... by TheCarp · 2013-10-31 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  Sure but then I might not get more of the same and I would miss my opportunity to warn others away and.... of course... cost them money.
  So I actually mark ads for products I like as "against my views", that way, I wont have to see their ad, which is wasted on me anyway, and wont be costing them more money. Unlike the ones I dislike, who I make pay for the 'contact' they are making with me....and try to draw out more of that contact....so I can troll more.
  And while we are on the topic of trolling of course, I need to remember more often to make sure my comments go off like anthrax spores in the John Hancock tower ventilation system as if they were delivering a mighty blow to the infidels and apostate.
  (Dear Analyst: Why are you reading this when you should be serving the people and leaking information?)
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
I like to leave my cursor hovering by WillAffleckUW · 2013-10-30 06:07 · Score: 1

I like to leave my cursor hovering over ads while I go to the bathroom or cook dinner.
Data means nothing without analysis.
Make your ad sound-equipped video and I'll block anything from that provider and probably stop going to your web site.

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
1. Re:I like to leave my cursor hovering by CastrTroy · 2013-10-30 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  Doesn't matter as long as they get more numbers to dazzle the advertisers with. They don't care if everything is entirely accurate. More information is always better. If it turns out to make them look bad (nobody hovers over the ads), they'll just choose not to report those numbers to the advertisers. If they can use the data, and spin it in a way to make them look good, then they will have more "hard facts" to let advertisers know they are getting their money's worth.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblock. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 06:07 · Score: 3, Interesting

Wonder how long it will be until FB accounts start getting banned because users use AdBlock with this techology...
3...2..
cursor movement by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 06:08 · Score: 2, Funny

I have no problem with them tracking the cursor movement on my mobile phone.
And this is why we block adverts by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 06:14 · Score: 4, Insightful

And this is why we block adverts.
I felt bad at first blocking adverts so I didn't do it.
But then websites abused that over and over.
A few text adverts ok, that's just about acceptable.
Just when pages have multiple graphic or even video adverts that's not.
And when they start profiling and tracking you then that's simply abuse.
I now agressively block advertising and tracking on every website I can.
And it's because they didn;'t know when to stop.
Imagine if you will... by TheCastro1689 · 2013-10-30 06:15 · Score: 5, Insightful

a world where once you leave your local shopping store a man follows you around all day, recording where you go, what you look at, what you buy, the music you listen to, the tv shows you watch, which commercials you pay attention to, which ones you don't. There's no law against this, and if you tell him to leave you alone he ignores you. You file an opt out form and he still follows you, but now he hides in the bushes. This is what is happening, but to all of your online life. Thanks for reading.
1. Re:Imagine if you will... by Thanshin · 2013-10-30 06:18 · Score: 1
  
  Do you mind if I imagine your proposition replacing the man with a naked lady?
  It's to be closer to the reality of the interwebs.
2. Re:Imagine if you will... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  No. On the Interwebs it looks like a naked (and very young) lady from a distance, but it's a trap. It's really a man, and probably a fat, filthy, neckbearded one at that underneath his disguise, and he's been masturbating all day while he's been spying on you.
  That, my friend, is the reality of the interwebs.
3. Re:Imagine if you will... by CanHasDIY · 2013-10-30 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  <Rod Serling>Your next stop: The Twilight Zone!</Rod Serling>
  
  --
  An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
4. Re:Imagine if you will... by Peter+Simpson · 2013-10-30 07:14 · Score: 1
  
  a world where once you leave your local shopping store a man follows you around all day, recording where you go, what you look at, what you buy, the music you listen to, the tv shows you watch, which commercials you pay attention to, which ones you don't. There's no law against this, and if you tell him to leave you alone he ignores you. You file an opt out form and he still follows you, but now he hides in the bushes. This is what is happening, but to all of your online life. Thanks for reading.
  AdBlock. It's like being able to bash that man with a baseball bat.
5. Re:Imagine if you will... by c-A-d · 2013-10-30 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  Who are you calling 'neckbearded'?
  
  --
  some karma... and kinda lukewarm about it.
6. Re:Imagine if you will... by RobertLTux · 2013-10-30 08:28 · Score: 1
  
  i was thinking about refiling that opt out ballisticaly (in triplicate) but a baseball bat (a USA made Louisville Slugger in Maple as GHOD intended) would work well also.
  
  --
  Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
7. Re:Imagine if you will... by nickersonm · 2013-10-30 14:07 · Score: 1
  
  You mean like this?
Re:It's facebook by webdog314 · 2013-10-30 06:17 · Score: 1

How long users hovered over specific ads? There's so much rollover event crap going on that I usually move my cursor to the edge of the page just to be able to read.
Re:Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblo by Piata · 2013-10-30 06:21 · Score: 2

How would you separate the people using adblock from the people that have no interest in ads and routinely avoid them?
I don't think there's been an ad on Facebook that I've desired to click on. For a company that stripe mines user data as their core business, they seem terrible at advertising (or at least advertising to me).
Stop Complaining if you have a FB Account by EMG+at+MU · 2013-10-30 06:26 · Score: 2, Informative

FaceBook asked the world to raise your hand if you are ok with them using all of your information and habits to get you to click on ads, and every FB account was a hand raised. Even if you only use it to "stay in touch with family and close friends", "I never click ads", "I run AdBlockPlus" ect... You are a number they use to get more money.
Re:Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblo by Dr.Zong · 2013-10-30 06:26 · Score: 1

And that would literally be the ammunition I need to nuke my account. I've noticed the only people I kep in touch with on there that I don't see regularly in real life, I could do without anyhow.

--

Party?!? What kind of party is this? Where's the damn keg?
Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit
Progress! by Krishnoid · 2013-10-30 06:28 · Score: 3, Insightful

So ... we'll be moving from click-fraud to hover-fraud?
a better idea by Kevin+Fishburne · 2013-10-30 06:32 · Score: 1

They could just give out free televisions with integrated webcams, and as an added bonus it would come with a screensaver of some mustached dude staring sternly at you. And paint their drones black. And start calling their datacenters "ministries". How's the war with Google going, Mark? Same as it always has?

--
Buy your next Linux PC at eightvirtues.com
1. Re:a better idea by mjr167 · 2013-10-30 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  No, they don't have to give them away. People already pay Microsoft for this...
2. Re:a better idea by lgw · 2013-10-30 11:19 · Score: 1
  
  My new TV came with an integrated webcam, but I must have gotten one of the upper-class versions, because I can turn it off.
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
3. Re:a better idea by jrumney · 2013-10-30 14:10 · Score: 1
  
  My new TV came with an integrated webcam, but I must have gotten one of the upper-class versions, because I can turn it off.
  Are you sure about that?
4. Re:a better idea by lgw · 2013-10-31 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  Yep - because Samsung was smart about it, and "turning it off" involves pointing it directly up (I guess sliding a shield in front of it to turn it off would have been more certain, but would have looked odd).
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Re:Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblo by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-30 06:39 · Score: 1

Not to mention NoScript.
They don't already do this?? by Nukenbar · 2013-10-30 06:40 · Score: 1

I figured that they already knew I liked checking out all of the hot chicks in the Match.com/online dates.
Maybe some other algorithm already knows that I'm sad and alone. :(
Desperation? by Hoi+Polloi · 2013-10-30 06:48 · Score: 1

Getting hard to sell those ads for more money eh? Pump all the data you want, I still won't buy your crap.

--
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Re:Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblo by Peter+Simpson · 2013-10-30 07:17 · Score: 1

Hmm...on one hand, Facebook, on the other, AdBlock.

I know which one *I* would choose :-)
Re:They don't already? by GameboyRMH · 2013-10-30 07:19 · Score: 1

That was my first thought too.
For those of you who use NoScript or Ghostery, have you seen a thing called Crazy Egg?
It tracks your pointer. It's everywhere.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
NNTP and RSS by tepples · 2013-10-30 07:23 · Score: 1

That's what RSS was supposed to be about, and before that NNTP. But Facebook works even on a PC with no NNTP client or RSS reader.
Spotify has its own auth by tepples · 2013-10-30 07:26 · Score: 2

Spotify now has its own authentication in parallel with Facebook authentication. And in what geographic area or industry, other than perhaps social marketing, do absolutely all employers require that one's Facebook account not be left blank on the job application?
1. Re:Spotify has its own auth by Arker · 2013-10-30 08:26 · Score: 2
  
  I have had employers ask for a facebook login. I have never had one question me when I answer 'lolno'.
  
  --
  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Only one issuing badges? by tepples · 2013-10-30 07:36 · Score: 1

You find when kicked out that all local businesses have trusted this store with their access card security, and are the only ones permitted to issue badges in the city.
I don't follow this part of the analogy. Are you referring to web sites that 1. use only Facebook login and 2. have no close substitute? If so, I've seen very few sites that do that other than Answers.com and things like FarmVille.
What genius came up... by rnturn · 2013-10-30 07:37 · Score: 1

... with the idea that the position of my mouse is any kind of indication as to where my eyes are looking? I move the mouse out of the way so that it doesn't obscure the text I'm trying to read. What moron of an advertiser is going to pay extra for knowing that we've moved our mouse over their ad? It has virtually no correlation with where my attention is focused.
I sense, though, that this will make FB even more of a pain in the ass to load when all this mouse location software needs to be downloaded into my browser. (Which it won't because I'll be blocking that in a heartbeat.)

--
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
1. Re:What genius came up... by allo · 2013-11-01 01:47 · Score: 1
  
  maybe, they want to know, that you move the cursor out of the ad, to watch the animation displayed?
cpalead by tepples · 2013-10-30 07:39 · Score: 1

Until things like cpalead become more common. If you don't sign up for one of the three free trials, you're locked out of the page. Or until video ads cause you to hit the monthly cap imposed by your ISP.
AdBlock by quonsar · 2013-10-30 07:48 · Score: 1

there are ads on Facebook? Huh.

--

Sacred cows make the best burgers.
Re:some of this is NOT new by foradoxium · 2013-10-30 07:56 · Score: 1

I was coming on to post the same. I don't see why this is being represented as new, other then to stir the hate-pot for Facebook.
Cookies have been used forever to track you, websites can track your cursor, time spent hovering etc.
I don't understand how people can not already know that Facebook is a large marketing firm selling their personal data?
Wow. They are giving me the wheel by EngineeringStudent · 2013-10-30 08:05 · Score: 1

I hate a number of their ads. You couldn't pay me enough to click on them. Seriously.
Now that I know they (might) have mouse-based tracking all I have to do is figure out what their (weak) logic is and then try that as an avenue to reduce the uninteresting ads. Why do I get commercials in spanish if I don't speak spanish?
Facebook comment sections by tepples · 2013-10-30 08:18 · Score: 1

Do you mean the "Login to Facebook to Post a Comment" buttons that appear in comments section when you browse on a mobile device? I've seen those. If I view the same page on a desktop or laptop computer, or I tell Chrome for Android or Firefox for Android to use a desktop User-agent string, other login options become available under "Comment using...", including Google authentication.
FB isn't that clever... by CohibaVancouver · 2013-10-30 08:45 · Score: 1

Y'know, I'd have more faith in these 'Facebook is Omnipotent' stories if Facebook ever once actually served up something I cared about. I joined five years ago and I'm on FB several times per day. I post links, and update my status. I post a few pictures per week. I check in here and there using the mobile app. I have a couple of hundred friends and I comment on their postings. Facebook knows my location, age, gender, marital status. It knows I like James Bond and I'm an airplane geek... On and on.

Yet Facebook has never, once, posted ANYTHING that would cause me to go "Hey, that's interesting," and click. Never once. Right now it's serving me up an ad telling me to go to school to be a social worker, and another ad from my current ISP telling me to switch to them, even though I'm already using them. Yeah, great data mining FB.
We are shocked! Shocked! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2013-10-30 10:02 · Score: 1

"Here comes the first output. What does it say?!?!?"
"The pattern-recognition AI says, after studying millions of instances of tracking, we should use ads with 'selfies' of humanoids wearing tight clothes hiding prominent chest tumors."

--
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Re:Wonder if this will be used to ferret out adblo by TubeSteak · 2013-10-30 10:03 · Score: 1

How would you separate the people using adblock from the people that have no interest in ads and routinely avoid them?
Look for the logged in accounts that never have any mouse movement activity?

--
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
All Your Mouse by d'baba · 2013-10-30 11:38 · Score: 1

Are Belong To USNSA
I TOLD YOU SO! by kheldan · 2013-10-30 13:03 · Score: 1

Did you listen to me? No! You all thought I was a nut-job because I bailed out of Facebook. Who's laughing at who, now?

Sheep.

--
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
I Wonder How It Affects Performance by bobwalt · 2013-10-30 13:51 · Score: 1

Perhaps that is why Facebook performance sucks. The more stuff they add in the worse the software works. They might be better off just getting it to work correctly.
PR stunt (they've been doing it for ages) by andrew3 · 2013-10-30 14:58 · Score: 1

Facebook has been doing this for ages. It started years ago with the hovercards (hovering over a person's face brings up details and alerts Facebook each time) and grew from there. A few months ago I observed using the Firefox Web Developer tools that Facebook was monitoring when a user hovered over a Like button (not necessarily clicked), advertisements, possibly tracking what part of the page the user was on, and more. Quick analysis from a curious user didn't reveal the full details of exactly what they were tracking.
Basically Facebook would rather give the news itself rather than letting someone else spill the beans. It's a cheap PR stunt, no more.