Reports began to emerge on Monday, initially and primarily in France, that private messages from 2007 to 2009 had begun to appear on users’ public Facebook timeline. Private messages are meant to be just that: private between the sender and the recipient or recipients.
Facebook, however, has denied that there has been a privacy leak. It claims that the messages always were public messages. The suggestion is that now, years later and taken out of context, users may have forgotten what they used to discuss publicly. A 22-year old today is quite likely to be embarrassed by what he or she said openly when just 17 years old.
Either Facebook is right and these messages always were public, or it is wrong and will likely face prosecution by European data protection watchdogs. But even if it is right, the episode should act as a wake-up call to its users: think twice about what you post. “Your online actions could be used against you in later life, such as university admissions, recruitment managers, even potential dates,” warns Mark Hall, managing director of GotJuice.co.uk. People “will be able to view this information and form an opinion of you without having met you or having any further knowledge.”
The second issue is the new relationship between Facebook and Datalogix. “Datalogix,” explains the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), “is an advertising metrics company that describes its data set as including ‘almost every U.S. household and more than $1 trillion in consumer transactions.’ It specifically relies on loyalty card data...” Facebook will be using that data to provide metrics on the effectiveness of adverts placed on Facebook; that is, how efficiently an advert on Facebook translates to a purchase in the stores.
Facebook claims that the data exchanged between it and Datalogix will be anonymized, and involve groups, not individuals. Individuals’ purchases will not be exposed. “But even with these technical and legal safeguards,” continues EFF, “many people may be concerned because the shopping data compiled by loyalty programs can be quite sensitive.” It points to earlier cases where “Target was able to identify and target an expectant mother long before she started showing visible signs of pregnancy,” and where in “at least one case, before her father realized she was expecting.”
While it does appear that Facebook is trying to maintain its users’ privacy in the relationship with Datalogix, critics have pointed out how unclear it has made the opt out process. The Atlantic Wire has tried to explain. “First, you have to find the help center... After clicking through to Ads and Business solutions, then to Ads and Sponsored Stories, then to Interacting with Ads, you will finally see a list of questions about ads as it effects you...” Eventually, if the user persists, he or she will be sent to Datalogix. Opting out of the Facebook scheme has to be done by opting out of Datalogix data collection scheme: here.