Facebook Will Sell Users' Data to Serve Ads on Sites Across the Web

[IDemo]

Source: NBC News

Facebook is now selling marketers ads that will appear all over the web, not just on the social network, the company announced Sunday. It will offer advertisers Facebook data to help them target customers, and also track whether the ads lead to sales.

It's Facebook's push to become a web-wide ad platform like Google, and the company is doing so through a relaunch of the "Atlas" network that Facebook bought from Microsoft for an undisclosed sum in February 2013. The new methods are designed to address the fact that desktop ad-tracking "cookies" don't offer demographic information like age or gender, don't work on mobile and can't follow users across web browsers or devices, Erik Johnson, the head of Atlas, said in a blog post. Atlas, he wrote, is dedicated to "targeting, serving and measuring across devices" -- with the data users share on Facebook served up as the icing on the cake.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/facebook-will-sell-users-data-serve-ads-sites-across-web-n214026

---

As predictable as Microsoft updates, Facebook's peeling back of its users' privacy.

[arcane1]

1. "and also track whether the ads lead to sales"

Here's hoping most people's behavior is like mine: never ever clicking on an ad intentionally.

[catrose]

4. Absolutely

And not entering personal data, and when I have to: LIE.

And now, no Facebook on anything but my computer. Getting v close to No Facebook At All.

[arcane1]

10. Yeah, if I ever get s smart phone, it won't have any FB apps on it!

[loudsue]

18. I got off after two months, 4 years ago.

I still use google, , but facebook I can totally do without.

[Ampersand Unicode]

30. Adblock Plus FTW.

I use it and a bunch of other useful tools on my computer to block those nefarious social media websites. On Firefox I use Adblock Plus as well as the Disconnect suite of add-ons. I also use the pseudo-firewall apps PeerBlock and DNSKong, which allow blocking by (respectively) IP range and keywords. With DNSKong I use a text filter that includes the words "facebook," "twitter," "google," "pinterest," and "yahoo" among others. With PeerBlock I use custom IP lists with ranges for particular social media sites; there are premade ones available at iblocklist.com. When I have some disposable income available, I'm going to sign up for a non-US VPN from this list:

https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/

I use IxQuick.com for search and don't have a "real" email account. When I need to sign up for things I get a disposable one from YopMail.com. I haven't used Google in years.

It's not perfect (nothing is, save for going completely off the grid and living underground in a bunker), but at least it hardens it quite a bit. No access requests incoming or outgoing involving Facebook, Twitter or even Google.

And of course, there's the necessary behavioral adaptations one needs to stay successfully hidden and undiscoverable online. Resisting the "FOMO" impulse is one; another is not giving a damn if you're "cool" or "up with the trends" or not. Personally, I manage all of the quite easily by avoiding relationships with people and also not having a phone number... but YMMV.

[BumRushDaShow]

36. Also try Ghostery on Firefox.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ghostery/

[MynameisBlarney]

2. Wow.

That's messed up.

[alp227]

3. So don't post info online if you don't want websites to share it.

Besides, how much would you pay for an ad-free social media experience? Maintaining websites - even DU - costs money. Somebody's gotta pay whether advertisers or users.

[MynameisBlarney]

6. It if meant my info wasn't for sale

and was secure (as possible) from other means of exploitation, I'd pay 10 bucks a month for such a site, if I was into that sort of thing.

[C Moon]

5. Hopefully that "Ello" site will take off...because I am, admittedly, a FB user.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/inside-ello-invitation-social-network-bills-anti-facebook/story?id=25834013

I asked to be invited, but haven't heard back.
They probably want a donation..."Hint, hint."

[zonkers]

11. They are being resold on ebay. Nice way to make a buck.

People are dizzy. I am going back to yellow pads, number 2 pencils and soap erasers.

[C Moon]

13. Holy chripes! You're right...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/09/26/ello-social-media-facebook/16271047/
People are selling invites.

[tridim]

14. Didn't Ello crash over the weekend? nt

[C Moon]

17. I don't know, but I found this... :/

New Social Network Ello Accepts Funding from Venture Capital Firm
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/New-Social-Network-Ello-Accepts-Funding-from-Venture-Capital-Firm-20140927-0031.html

[arcane1]

31. One would think they expect a return on that investment n/t

[C Moon]

33. Exactly. I understand that "there's no such thing as a free lunch" ...

but they shouldn't claim to be something they aren't planning on being.
If that makes sense. :/

[Orrex]

7. In other news, fire is hot

[zonkers]

8. Never joined FB. And don't forget folks, "the cloud is really just someone else's hard drive."

I don't know who on DU said the last quote but it is my mantra.

[JimDandy]

29. That's what I tell everyone

that mentions "the cloud". It doesn't sink in that they are giving all their private/business data to someone else unless it's phrased like that.

[IDemo]

9. One possible alternative -

Inside Ello, the Invitation Only Social Network That Bills Itself as the Anti-Facebook

"Your social network is owned by advertisers," it reads. "Every post you share, every friend you make and every link you follow is tracked, recorded and converted into data. Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that's bought and sold."

Users who click "I Disagree" are re-directed to Facebook.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/inside-ello-invitation-social-network-bills-anti-facebook/story?id=25834013

[billhicks76]

20. BS...it's the SuperFacebook

They are asshats. It's only good for a business profile not individuals. Total Scam.

[Hestia]

12. A couple of things that help on FB - Adblock Plus (I never see stuff that people bitch about) and

Do.Not.Click.On.Any.Link - not even a news story - go to the site itself. When I go to news sites there is a big message begging me to turn off Adblock Plus so "I can get the full enhancement of the site" or "advertisers are interested in what I think". Pshaw....

[SeattleVet]

35. Good policies.

I started using the Internet when it was still an ad-free community. Once ads started appearing I basically 'trained' myself to not see them. I could read through a lot of stuff and never have the ads on the page register. More than once I've had someone ask about something on a page I was reading, and I'd ask what they were talking about. They'd point out some content in an ad, and I've have to tell then that I never really 'saw' it until they pointed it out to me.

Between AdBlockPlus and SocialFixer, new sites and Facebook are pretty ad-free for me. Like you, I don't believe I have ever knowingly clicked on any ad that I was served. I also select the link information and past it in to go directly to the real place instead of raising 'click counts' for everyone that's framing the links on their own sites.

[seabeckind]

15. I noticed in the last few days

that forums which use the FB engine for their comments (like Huff), don't display any comments unless I have an active FB login. Does that mean that FB even tracks the comment threads I might look at?

In any case, I guess I just gave up looking at comments.

[Ampersand Unicode]

32. Oh gawd, Puff Post. A POS tabloid rag.

H.P. Puffnstuff started getting really crappy once they started requiring users to sign up for Facebook in order to "verify" their native accounts. Eventually they phased out the native system altogether and switched their commenting section 100% over to FB. I deleted my account there once it became apparent that you would have to have a Facebook in order to participate in discussions. I refused. Also, it wasn't even enough to just have a Facebook. You had to "verify" your account in order to login at HP. That meant giving FB your mobile phone number. Call me a real Amish Luddite and a recluse, but I don't have a mobile phone. Needless to say, I don't have a "verified" Facebook either. Or any Facebook. As I wrote above, I block it entirely on my computer.

Huffingpaint is little more than an echo-chamber sounding board for its celebrity-blogger clientele. The usual big-name A-list elite who have something to say about some issue that they sort of care about but really seem to only want to be promoting themselves. I got tired of real news being shoved aside so that Alec Baldwin can complain about the paparazzi, Dan Blather can crush on Derek Jeter, and John Cusack can spend three whole days and about 5,000 words too much shilling a lame book from his shrink.

If I want celebrities' "opinions," I'll waste time at Goop.

[seabeckind]

37. You missed the point...wrapped up in a Huff rant

The point was that if those sites that use FB as their engine require an active login, they can track your clicks on the comments by linking into FB as you read them. That means that it is possible to profile your interests.

It's analogous to having a GPS in your pocket that tracks where you stop as you travel around the city. BTW, that's why I refuse to agree to the terms of service in some of the mapping apps in my smart phone. As well as the use of the qr decoder -- like I'm going to agree that their host can follow my interests.

Information is money.

Paraphrasing a point I saw in other circles, you would be screaming to high heaven if the nsa suggested it but happily hand over the info to FB.

BTW, I noticed the comments reappeared yesterday. I guess theuy got a lot of complaints from people who want to read the comments but don't want to use FB.

I don't think you're doing Huff justice. That one is analogous to refusing to use the library cause it has a copy of 50 shades. Stay in the middle of the page and be discriminating and there's useful stuff.

[Hestia]

38. I have a 7 y/o "smart phone" so it ain't top of the line ;) first thing I did was disable all GPS,

'net, anything that would track where we were going. I don't link my number on any site, but I do purchase over the 'net so I can be found that way (sorta, some places still have us living out of state, which is okay), but advertisers would be scratching their heads at my purchases. Don't have kids or grandkids, but we'll stream a kids movie now and then. There are some items I needed for crafts and it came from wedding sections (way cheaper) but no one I know is getting married and how do you advertise to a Pagan anyway? I have all the books I can possible use and I leave the state to get my candles in person. We have all the toys we could use and don't even have an eye pod - may break down and get one this year. Who knows?

Mix it up, don't let them get a handle on who you are. We are complicated humans who can't be pegged by an algorithm as much as their desires say we can.

Back to the thread - I don't answer anything that has you comment via FB. Most the time I am not even logged into FB. Almost all big sites are like that now. I read it was because of anonymous nasty comments but I think too that it is to capture your comments and where you comment.

[SoapBox]

16. FB...never done it, never will...

And don't need it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. What's funny is how many people use Facebook as a daily diary....

And then they are paranoid about the government knowing anything about them.

[Helen Borg]

21. I think I never buy anything that I see in an ad...

Or perhaps it's all working subliminally... Dunno. I recently bought an Android phone I never saw advertised. What did I do? I checked the specs, went into the store, tried the phones in my hands etc etc. I bought the one that made the most sense, given my needs.

[azurnoir]

22. FaceBook is the biggest data mining operation on the net

I realized that a few years ago and closed my account shortly afterwards

[drm604]

23. I use Firefox and block all of that tracking stuff.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/donottrackplus/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ghostery/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-no-tracking-url/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/self-destructing-cookies/

[marble falls]

25. I also use duckduckgoose for my search engine and a little program called "do not track me".....

I get a lot less ads on sites though some (very few) block content because "do not track me" blocks cookies very well.

[Ampersand Unicode]

34. Add these items to your toolbox too.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus-pop-up-addon/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/disconnect/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fbdc/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/gdc/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/twdc/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/yesscript/

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

http://peerblock.com/

http://pyrenean.com/Filtering - DNSKong and eDexter (keyword-based blocking software)

Hosts files:
How to Use
Hosts Expert (formerly Hoster): GUI-based Hosts File Editor
Someone Who Cares: Hosts File
Spybot Search & Destroy (installs updated hosts file)

VPN services: TorrentFreak review of the most privacy-conscious VPN services

I use all these except VPN which I can't afford yet. Haven't had a "bug" of any sort and FB, Google, etc. do not contact me.

[marble falls]

24. I'm shcked. Shocked to hear a website that specializes in gathering iformation about everyone.....

without charging its users for its services wants to cash in on all that information/intelligence.

When the Koch Brothers finally buy all of Congress, they will privatize the NSA. And google will get the contract.

[SheilaT]

26. I mainly use FB to find out what other people are doing.

I almost never post anything, and have the highest possible privacy settings.

I NEVER "like" anything, and I suspect it's clicking the "like" button that accounts for a lot of what I see on other FB pages.

[TheNutcracker]

27. This is exactly why I deactived my Fakebook account a while ago....

I don't like hanging out in the 'clouds'.....

[BlancheSplanchnik]

28. I'm on FB...meh. seeing what's up with friends. Now, starting a new group

A Deaf group of comedy fans.

It's a convenient way to communicate.

I just try to jam the bots when I can.