Facebook sued for Beacon blunder

Eat my class action...bitch

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 15th August 2008 08:17 GMT

Join our expert panel in discussing application security

Facebook is being sued for breaking privacy and wire-tapping laws by introducing Facebook Beacon - the ad service which tracked what you did on other websites.

If you bought something on a partner site working with Facebook then this fact would be displayed on your profile page for all your friends to see. Users were signed up to the service by default only to see their most recent porn purchases being shown to friends and family who looked at their Facebook profile.

After a revolt by members, Facebook's CEO bitch Mark Zuckerberg apologised for the cock-up and gave people the option to switch Beacon off.

The case was filed this week on behalf of 32 people in northern California's District Court. The case also names eight online retailers, including Blockbuster and Overstock, for illegally publicising people's purchases. It seeks to further restrict use of Beacon, deletion of data already collected and damages.

All Facebook users can pretend to join in, by signing up for Join the Class Action "Beacon" Law Suit against Facebook. As it says on the page: "This is an open group. Anyone can join and invite others to join."

Social networking for Fifth Columnists... such is the way of the World.®

Join our expert panel in discussing application security