SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo: Ludovic Toinel)
Privacy Groups Push Back Against Latest Facebook Tracking Scheme
International consumer advocacy coalition says web-tracking plan raises "deep alarm"
Jul 29, 2014
A transnational group of privacy and consumer advocates is calling on the Federal Trade Commission and the Irish Data Protection Commission to shut down Facebook's new web-tracking program, which it says violates established privacy agreements and in fact punishes users who are "most diligent about their privacy."
In a letter (pdf) sent Tuesday, the London-based Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) -- a network whose members include the US-based Center for Media and Democracy, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Public Citizen, as well as several European rights groups -- expressed "deep alarm" about the "vast expansion" of Facebook's data collection practices, which the company announced in a blog post last month.
TACD describes the new policy:
Facebook already installs cookies and pixel tags on users' computers to track browsing activity on Facebook.com and Facebook apps, however the proposed change would meant that those cookies and pixel tags will also track users' browsing activity on any website that includes a few lines of Facebook code.
According to reporting in AdAge, Facebook said it would not honor do-not-track browser settings (as Twitter and Pinterest do), and would begin using browser histories and Facebook widgets on third-party sites to collect information to further target advertising. Users who don't want to be tracked were advised to opt-out using the third-party service Digital Advertising Alliance, or on mobile devices using iOS or Android controls.
The TACD letter calls this "an imperfect opt-out method" that puts unnecessary onus on the user: "[E]ven consumers who work to exercise their ability to opt out must remain vigilant, even after taking the appropriate privacy precautions."
What's more, the whole scheme bears uncanny similarities to a controversial program Facebook attempted to roll out in 2007, TACD said.
Facebook's proposed use of pixel tags to track users offline is almost identical to its 2007 Beacon program. Beacon similarly used 1x1 pixel GIF tags to track and transmit users' browsing history--on non-Facebook websites--to Facebook's own servers. Facebook users objected so strongly to Beacon that over 50,000 users signed a petition against the program within its first 10 days. Other users filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook for privacy violations. Facebook abandoned the program during the course of the lawsuit and publicly apologized, admitting that the program had been a mistake.
Facebook has now completely reversed its stance to the detriment of users of the service. Contrary to its prior representations, upon which users may have relied, the company will now routinely monitor the web browsing activities of its users and exploit that information for advertising purposes.
More than 132,000 people have signed onto a new petition in response to the latest revelations.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
A transnational group of privacy and consumer advocates is calling on the Federal Trade Commission and the Irish Data Protection Commission to shut down Facebook's new web-tracking program, which it says violates established privacy agreements and in fact punishes users who are "most diligent about their privacy."
In a letter (pdf) sent Tuesday, the London-based Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) -- a network whose members include the US-based Center for Media and Democracy, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Public Citizen, as well as several European rights groups -- expressed "deep alarm" about the "vast expansion" of Facebook's data collection practices, which the company announced in a blog post last month.
TACD describes the new policy:
Facebook already installs cookies and pixel tags on users' computers to track browsing activity on Facebook.com and Facebook apps, however the proposed change would meant that those cookies and pixel tags will also track users' browsing activity on any website that includes a few lines of Facebook code.
According to reporting in AdAge, Facebook said it would not honor do-not-track browser settings (as Twitter and Pinterest do), and would begin using browser histories and Facebook widgets on third-party sites to collect information to further target advertising. Users who don't want to be tracked were advised to opt-out using the third-party service Digital Advertising Alliance, or on mobile devices using iOS or Android controls.
The TACD letter calls this "an imperfect opt-out method" that puts unnecessary onus on the user: "[E]ven consumers who work to exercise their ability to opt out must remain vigilant, even after taking the appropriate privacy precautions."
What's more, the whole scheme bears uncanny similarities to a controversial program Facebook attempted to roll out in 2007, TACD said.
Facebook's proposed use of pixel tags to track users offline is almost identical to its 2007 Beacon program. Beacon similarly used 1x1 pixel GIF tags to track and transmit users' browsing history--on non-Facebook websites--to Facebook's own servers. Facebook users objected so strongly to Beacon that over 50,000 users signed a petition against the program within its first 10 days. Other users filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook for privacy violations. Facebook abandoned the program during the course of the lawsuit and publicly apologized, admitting that the program had been a mistake.
Facebook has now completely reversed its stance to the detriment of users of the service. Contrary to its prior representations, upon which users may have relied, the company will now routinely monitor the web browsing activities of its users and exploit that information for advertising purposes.
More than 132,000 people have signed onto a new petition in response to the latest revelations.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
A transnational group of privacy and consumer advocates is calling on the Federal Trade Commission and the Irish Data Protection Commission to shut down Facebook's new web-tracking program, which it says violates established privacy agreements and in fact punishes users who are "most diligent about their privacy."
In a letter (pdf) sent Tuesday, the London-based Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) -- a network whose members include the US-based Center for Media and Democracy, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Public Citizen, as well as several European rights groups -- expressed "deep alarm" about the "vast expansion" of Facebook's data collection practices, which the company announced in a blog post last month.
TACD describes the new policy:
Facebook already installs cookies and pixel tags on users' computers to track browsing activity on Facebook.com and Facebook apps, however the proposed change would meant that those cookies and pixel tags will also track users' browsing activity on any website that includes a few lines of Facebook code.
According to reporting in AdAge, Facebook said it would not honor do-not-track browser settings (as Twitter and Pinterest do), and would begin using browser histories and Facebook widgets on third-party sites to collect information to further target advertising. Users who don't want to be tracked were advised to opt-out using the third-party service Digital Advertising Alliance, or on mobile devices using iOS or Android controls.
The TACD letter calls this "an imperfect opt-out method" that puts unnecessary onus on the user: "[E]ven consumers who work to exercise their ability to opt out must remain vigilant, even after taking the appropriate privacy precautions."
What's more, the whole scheme bears uncanny similarities to a controversial program Facebook attempted to roll out in 2007, TACD said.
Facebook's proposed use of pixel tags to track users offline is almost identical to its 2007 Beacon program. Beacon similarly used 1x1 pixel GIF tags to track and transmit users' browsing history--on non-Facebook websites--to Facebook's own servers. Facebook users objected so strongly to Beacon that over 50,000 users signed a petition against the program within its first 10 days. Other users filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook for privacy violations. Facebook abandoned the program during the course of the lawsuit and publicly apologized, admitting that the program had been a mistake.
Facebook has now completely reversed its stance to the detriment of users of the service. Contrary to its prior representations, upon which users may have relied, the company will now routinely monitor the web browsing activities of its users and exploit that information for advertising purposes.
More than 132,000 people have signed onto a new petition in response to the latest revelations.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.