Facebook's tracking online ad platform accused of misleading users

5th December 2007

A new online advertisement programme launched by Facebook, which tracks the online activity of users on external activities, has been accused of misleading the public.

Researchers who tested the social networking website's new advertising platform, known as Beacon, found that contrary to Facebook's recent indications, the online activities of its users are traced after they have logged out of the site, reports the Wired Blog Network.

"[The company] says it's deleting the data it gathers after you've logged out, but that is not clearly spelled out in its privacy policy, and there isn't a binding public commitment," Stefan Berteau, a research engineer at US-based information technology management firm, CA.

The programme works by providing adverts on a user's Facebook profile based on the external websites they have viewed that are involved in the social networking website's advertisement network, according to the news provider.

Although the workings of Beacon have been perceived as an "alarming" development, internet-based advertisers have used cookies to track user activity online for years, the article notes.

The online advertising business may help Facebook to further build its user base in competition with rival social networking website MySpace, which recorded twice as many visitors in September, Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, has recently noted, reports eMarketer.