What is Facebook tracking for God's sake?

Eddie Dane

Philosopher
Eddie Dane
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
6,681
So, I've been looking at cars lately. As most guys my age do, I assume.
And Facebook started showing adverts for the new Skoda.

No biggy. FB knows I'm a family guy in my early forties, and that I'm employed. I don't mind relevant advertising.

However.

Last week I wanted to buy some goodies for the house bar. So I spend an evening on a Whiskey forum and I visited two e-commerce sites specialised in alcoholic beverages.

Lo and behold, this morning I'm greeted by an advert of the Famous Grouse, a Scotch I happen to like.

To my knowledge I have not 'liked' any booze brands, had any conversations about drinks or posted anything related to that subject.

I'm no privacy hard-liner. By all means collect metadata and send me adverts. But non of this stuff has gone via FB, and I feel that if they track my browsing behaviour, it is over the line.
 
It's not Facebook.
It's the advertisers.
Depending on your browser you can turn off third-party cookies.
 
Facebook is the only agent that puts ads on Facebook. Companies pay Facebook to place and target ads.
By opting out, you will not get ads relating to your browsing activities.

You will still get non related advertising though.
I thought that was the OP issue.
 
Every page you visit that contains a Facebook "Like"-button will be tracked by Facebook, whether you're a member or not. If you are logged in while surfing, all the data goes into your profile.
 
Ah.
Should have realised Facebook was an advertising agency...how else are they going to make money?

So, presumably, they have a script package that goes with those 'like' buttons?
 
I would think that Facebook only needs to look at the cookies left on your machine, compare them to a database to see if they are from paid customers and send you the relevant ads.

Any scripts associated with a like button would only be run if you clicked on the like button.
 
That's not the case. The Like-Buttons are embedded content loaded directly from facebook. No need to click anything.

That's what German data protection officials have complained about time and time again. Google it.
 
OK, thanks for the explanation.

I don't think it's a problem now that I know how it happens.

It's just that when you don't understand the technology behind it, it feels like a breach of privacy. I accept cookies.

I've noticed many internet users being weirded out when they are "stalked" by products they looked at.

And to be fair, being stalked by a vacuum cleaner is a bit unnerving.
 
Are you referring to this?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/germany-facebook-like-button-violates-privacy-laws/2837

"Facebook's Like button today was found in violation of Germany's strict privacy laws. Commissioner Thilo Weichert, who works for the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection (ULD) in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, said the social network’s plugin, which allows Internet users to express their appreciation(by clicking the like button i assume)of something online, illegally puts together a profile of their Web habits."

What happens (as a FB user)when you visit a web page that has a like button but you do not click the like button?

What happens (as a non FB user) when you click or do not click the like button?

If you are a member of Facebook you are already profiled up the ying yang.
 
Gawdzilla said:
Two phrases come to mind:

"Never do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the medics."

And, those famous last words, "Delete my browser history!"
Click to expand...

I got a mental image of some guy yelling that into his phone as he was having a toy car removed from his anal cavity at the hospital.

But that's normal right?
 
Skwinty said:
Are you referring to this?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/germany-facebook-like-button-violates-privacy-laws/2837

"Facebook's Like button today was found in violation of Germany's strict privacy laws. Commissioner Thilo Weichert, who works for the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection (ULD) in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, said the social network’s plugin, which allows Internet users to express their appreciation(by clicking the like button i assume)of something online, illegally puts together a profile of their Web habits."

What happens (as a FB user)when you visit a web page that has a like button but you do not click the like button?

What happens (as a non FB user) when you click or do not click the like button?

If you are a member of Facebook you are already profiled up the ying yang.
Click to expand...

Good questions.

I have not yet gotten any advertising involving Sasha Grey.
They either don't collect that data, or they aren't using it. Yet.
 
Ok, thanks for the link. What I understand from that is: A non FB user who enters the web site without clicking a like or share button would have their ip address and what they looked at recorded. If they were a FB user then their FB id would be recorded as well and sent to FB. So in the case of the non FB user, is there a breech of privacy as only ip address and content is recorded. As for the FB user, their privacy has already been compromised.
 
It is important to always keep in mind that Facebook users are the commodity--they are not customers. The advertisers are the customers.
 
Psi Baba said:
Facebook users are the commodity--they are not customers.
Click to expand...

True, and if you are concerned about being an internet commodity then you should disconnect from the internet.

You will always be a target for advertisers, whether they know your name and location or not.
 
Skwinty said:
I would think that Facebook only needs to look at the cookies left on your machine, compare them to a database to see if they are from paid customers and send you the relevant ads.
Click to expand...

Web sites can't look at the cookies stored on your machine like that. The browser will automatically send cookies associated with the site you're connecting to, but there's no way for the site to request any data about cookies from other sites.
 
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