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November 30, 2007, 01:25 PM ET
Facebook Changes Course on Data Mining
The social-networking site Facebook is scaling back its plan to allow users to see their virtual friends’ online purchases and Web-surfing habits. The decision follows a huge online outcry this month organized by the liberal advocacy group Moveon.org. The group said the plan, called Beacon, violated users’ privacy rights because it publicized what people do on the Web without their explicit approval.
As first unveiled, Beacon would send messages to users’ friends about what they saw and bought on a wide array of commercial Web sites, such as Amazon.com, Overstock.com, and Orbitz. The plan was seen as part of an attempt by Facebook to garner more advertising money by pushing targeted advertisements to users based on their interests and hobbies.
But in a message yesterday, Facebook said it would inform users’ friends about their Web activities only if it got explicit permission to do so. The turnaround came after Facebook received a petition signed by 50,000 users of the site protesting the feature. Moveon.org drafted the petition and collected the signatures. The incident marks the second time that Facebook has scaled back new features after protests from users. —Andrea L. Foster
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