Project Beacon: Does Facebook Know Too Much?
Posted by Nick O'Neill on November 2nd, 2007 3:00 PMThanks to leaked documents that Techcrunch has published, Facebook is supposedly preparing to launch an external web activities tracker (hence the name “beacon”). The new service is going to integrate with external sites such as Amazon, gaming sites, movie sites and other external sites to notify your friends of what you are up to. If you thought Facebook already knew a lot about you, wait until they know everything you are involved with outside of Facebook.
Do you want your friends to know what products you just purchased? How about what movie you are going to watch this evening? Apparently updating your Facebook status wasn’t enough. If you thought that Facebook received a massive backlash after the initial release of their newsfeed, wait until project beacon receives the go for launch. Not only will Facebook receive a lot of negative publicity but any partner involved with this program will most likely witness a backlash due to their partnership with Facebook.
While the current details are very basic, users will be able to select whether or not specific providers can automatically publish information their newsfeed or if they would like to be prompted prior to publishing. The addition of a filtering system may quell some of the upcoming backlash but how much Facebook really want to know about us? How much are you comfortable with providing Facebook?
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November 3rd, 2007 at 1:08 am
[...] Project Beacon: Does Facebook Know Too Much? Bookmark to: [...]
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:57 am
The name itself is creepy. Even if I can opt out of my friends seeing it, Facebook can still see it. Facebook is too bold in getting up close and personal. I am ready for someone to step in and just be a good social networking site. There’s got to be some modest money in it.
Soon, there will be a market for real privacy. Facebook’s backlashes may help to bring the issue to the forefront.
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:57 am
The name itself is creepy. Even if I can opt out of my friends seeing it, Facebook can still see it. Facebook is too bold in getting up close and personal. I am ready for someone to step in and just be a good social networking site. There’s got to be some modest money in it.
Soon, there will be a market for real privacy. Facebook’s backlashes may help to bring the issue to the forefront.
November 5th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Why not, This is how the market is being driven and as the article states “Soon, there will be a market for real privacy. Facebook’s backlashes may help to bring the issue to the forefront.”
Its about time I think!
November 5th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Why not, This is how the market is being driven and as the article states “Soon, there will be a market for real privacy. Facebook’s backlashes may help to bring the issue to the forefront.”
Its about time I think!
November 6th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
[...] of the first things mentioned by Zuckerberg is a partnership with eBay on project Beacon. I previously covered project beacon and questioned whether or not Facebook will soon enough know too much about us. [...]
November 13th, 2007 at 3:32 am
[...] Project Beacon - Does Facebook know too much [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:27 am
[...] Nick pointed out earlier this month, many users won’t know about the ability to turn off the updates, which [...]
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:55 pm
[...] on AllFacebook:Â The Unofficial Facebook Blog: The new service is going to integrate with external sites such as Amazon, gaming sites, movie [...]