Beacon Does Track Users Who Log Off: Facebook

Admission contradicts earlier denials
Posted Dec 3, 2007 8:21 PM CST
Beacon Does Track Users Who Log Off: Facebook
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York in this November 6, 2007 file photo. The online hangout is mining friends' buying habits, and major Internet portals have bought companies to expand their reach and capabilities...   (Associated Press)

Facebook has admitted that its Beacon ad system is tracking users even when they've logged off the site, PC World reports. Even those who opt out of the system that broadcasts activities to friends are being monitored. The company's email announcement reverses earlier denials and will likely stoke criticisms of the system by privacy advocates.

Until being outed this weekend by a CA Threat Research engineer, Facebook execs claimed that data about non-Facebook activity at partner sites—including eBay, Fandango, Blockbuster, and Travelocity—couldn't be tracked after users logged off the site. The social networking site now says that data culled in this manner is dropped into its servers and deleted. (More Facebook stories.)

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