We've been keeping an eye on Facebook.


Facebook does an about-face to soothe privacy advocates
Users must consent to sharing purchase information
By Mark Boslet
Mercury News
Article Launched: 11/29/2007 07:35:34 PM PST

Red-hot social networking site Facebook made a concession to privacy advocates Thursday by promising a significant change to an embattled advertising program that shares information about a member's purchases with his or her friends.

The change could go a long way toward satisfying critics, who have been calling on the Internet site to give users a permanent way to shield the information.

The Palo Alto start-up, which had 52 million visitors to its site in June alone, announced it would no longer publish information about purchases - such as a member's decision to buy a movie ticket - unless users approve it.

By doing so, it backed away from a growing confrontation with privacy advocates, who had been organizing a campaign against Facebook's Beacon advertising program.

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_7594654