Facebook sued over claims it tracks users' activity

Facebook sued over claims it tracks users' activity

m.smh.com.au

FACEBOOK is being sued by a group of users over claims it tracks their online activity after they log off.
The claims were exposed by an Australian technology blogger, Nik Cubrilovic, who conducted tests that revealed that when users log out, the site does not delete tracking ''cookies'' but modifies them, keeping information that can identify users as they surf the internet.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The company has told users cookie files installed on their computers to track interactions with Facebook applications and websites are removed when they log off, according to a complaint in the US federal court in San Jose, California. Facebook admitted last week that the cookies track internet activity after users log off, according to the suit.

''This admission came only after an Australian technology blogger exposed Facebook's practice of monitoring members who have logged out, although he brought the problems to the defendant's attention a year ago,''

m.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


use IE for facebook and use firefox for browsing. Solves problem.

another in a long list of corporations that blatently lie to our face and then wonder why people are upset. that said most sheople dont care cause they have been breed to not care..it is a statement about the society that is up and comeing, the younger generation that dont know enough about privacy issues because they have grown up from the craddle to believe that it is suppose to be a part of life..for coprorations to know whatever they want about whatever they want about the indivdual..all for profits and control

as the facebook mouth piece said.."we believe that this complaint is without merit..." what?!? they ARE doing it....what does he mean....another example of getting caught and then just doing the typical thing a stupid criminal who just got caught red handed would say.....'it wasnt me officer'

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


I never joined Facebook or any website like it......and I am very glad I never did.....but I still wonder ....how do they keep track of those of us who are not on those type of websites.....through our email accounts?

Originally posted by supermanning
reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery

 

use IE for facebook and use firefox for browsing. Solves problem.

Thanks for the tip sadly i dont use facebook anymore but my family does in EU

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery



I was not comfortable with the tracking but continued to stay on due to family connections. I finally had to give up on it .How many of you have had a really tough time trying to cancel your Facebook account? I am simply not cool with my every move being posted. I finally decided too much tracking (in many ways). Too much easy research on my family through me. So...I see the frustration and have a feeling this is the beginning of many legal letters sent their way. This will be interesting to follow. By the way...cameras or at least tracking them while in court or courthouse should be fair at this time correct? Just a thought.

Originally posted by supermanning
reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery

 

use IE for facebook and use firefox for browsing. Solves problem.

better yet, use anything but IE for facebook, and firefox for browsing

Better yet, use XB BROWSER exclusively for that kind of evil website

I bet FB will have some expensive legal team.
I doubt they are bothered at all-Their defense?

"It clearly states in our terms and conditions that....we own you all."

Case dismissed!

Myspace was cool at first, I even made money off a myspace resource site for a few years. I could never get into facebook, I have one but only cause all my family & friends are there. Anyways I just started a account with google+ which actually seems like it could be the next big thing.

It looks like google is trying to capitalize on facebook's downfalls. I think its just a matter of time before google's new social network takes over. For now I will say most of whom is on google+ are your more tech savy people it lacks real family and friends. The reason google+ appeals to me is because I already use lots of google products such as gmail, adsense, adwords, analytics and as a web developer it just makes sense. Not to mention its new, I want to be there to see it take off and not come in late feeling left out like I was with twitter.

If this is true, then this can be done to any company that has cookies on your computer without your approval.

The worst is when you order a pizza online, and out of no where you start seeing massive amounts of pizza advertisements. That's the company installing cookies on your computer without your approval and tracking you.

reply to post by caladonea


Actually the facebook widgets you see on a lot of pages keep track of you anyway, just in case you ever decide to sign up for facebook.

This does not surprise me at all,I remember reading that article when it first surfaced,hope that guy wins,settle out of court for some undisclosed amount i'm guessing.

As it has been said by those that still continue to use it,friends & family keep it going for most.
shame most have forgot what a paper,pen and envelope used to work albeit slower route of communication,I guess we can at the very least say we've saved some trees in the process,we can hope.

I feel sorry for all the morons and ignorant people who have the need to constantly and consistently post every single tedious event in their day
harry: 7:04 am- I'm taking a [censored] ......going to lunch with my aunty later.
harry: 8:02-well...So the [censored] took longer than I expected,phew!
harry: 9:01- walking the dog on front street,heading towards Wallace park,will be there for a hour.
(come get me TPTB or creepy stalker!!! i'm right here damn it,I gave you specifics geez what is taking you so long!?)
....you get the point.

I hear Google+ is not any better than facebook,what,the next social media program to track your info,first to last on that one,I think I will wait that one out a little longer,no thanks

Here are some previous ATS thread's that reveal some info and raise some good questions while attempting to find some answers on our lil friend Google+ :

- Why does Google+ insist on having your real name?

-Conspiracy: Social Network - Google+

Wonder if ATS will be next.

Originally posted by Johnze
Wonder if ATS will be next.

Or if it doesn't do that already.

There's plenty of trackers on this site.

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


Not only that but it also wants to control what you see, without asking you.

Here is another thread on ATS that relates to this.
It's not looking good.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery

 

I never joined Facebook or any website like it......and I am very glad I never did.....but I still wonder ....how do they keep track of those of us who are not on those type of websites.....through our email accounts?

Google is doing the same thing!

When i visit my Gmail account i get spammed with banners of 'interests' i just happended to google or be on. For example looking for chairs to go with my table (not an everyday item for me) and not 3 minutes later, i get spammed with chairs of dutch resellers.

What can people do about it?

Well you can either disable your cookies. But this will make a lot of sites not function properly or not at all!
You can manually delete your cookies everytime you visit Facebook for example. But it's a lot of hassle.
Or you can simply stay away from those site's like your doing

Internet is not so anonymous anymore, and anyone without a good intell on IT is getting tracked on all the big populair sites. Why? because it generates income, this is how they atvertise these days. user based personally adjusted to each person surfing the web.

Ooooh and another thing, Cookies are really out-dated! Anyone who knows a bit about programming in php5 or above knows the recommend way is using 'session' in stead of 'cookies' because it is more safe and leaves less junk on user computers! But they would miss that nice info gathering functions if they would use sessions.

Did someone really stand up for their own privacy! Wow, I can only hope that more people either leave or sue Facebook. That thing has been a plague on this generation and on society ever since it was released, after the myspace plague died out. Now I just have to hope that google+ doesn't kick off and we may actually be out of this fake social networking era. I can only dream though.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery

 

I never joined Facebook or any website like it......and I am very glad I never did.....but I still wonder ....how do they keep track of those of us who are not on those type of websites.....through our email accounts?

You're bank account.