The internet has woken up to the fact that Facebook can steal photos from your profile page and use them in ads targeted at your friends.
We first reported on this on June 24th in the case of reader Rob who was invited on Facebook to meet hot singles who were waiting for him. The Facebook ad used a picture of his wife in the picture. Now a front-page Reddit story and people on Facebook itself are spreading the news about the privacy concern and making a stink.
To opt out, you can just go here and select "no one." Or to do it from within Facebook, click settings -> privacy -> news feeds and wall -> facebook ads. If you have Ad-block, you have to disable it to do the opt out, as ad-block considers it also an ad.
The ads themselves are not served by Facebook but by third-party companies exploiting a part of the application platform which lets app developers see all the friends of a user who has added the app, even if that user's friends haven't themselves added the app.
In the description, Facebook says, "Facebook Ads make advertisements more interesting and more tailored to you and your friends," but what it should really say is "Facebook Ads slap your picture on stupid IQ test and dating site ripoffs."
When endofweb.co.uk noticed this issue and asked Facebook for a response, Facebook said they were in the process of investigating the deceptive ads and getting them shut down. David Swain, of the Product and Platform Communications department. at Facebook said, "It's an important issue, and one we take seriously."
[Reddit]
PREVIOUSLY: Facebook Encourages Open Marriages-Just Ask Dan's Wife
Seriously, try a different one. I recommend Opera, you don't need all these 3rd party scripts, which cause as many problems as what they're trying to block, such as in this case.
]]>@MichelangeloBabarong: How can this be both "clever" and "lame"?
If it was clever, there wouldn't be an issue. It's stupid, and I'd rather not have some half-assed marketing attempt using my likeness without my permission. Commercial use of space is going to force itself on us in every medium unless we say we don't like it, and there's nothing wrong with saying you don't like it. No need to just roll over for it. Push back.
]]>thanks facebook for ruining my life. *pulls out gun*
]]>Those things have been on Facebook for ages, and that setting has likely been there since then. And people are ticked off about it NOW? Does anybody LOOK at their facebook settings anymore?
]]>That's funny! If Zuckerberg and Co. actually gave a shit about anyone, then... well... for one thing, they would have reversed the shitty new layout that everyone openly complained about.
]]>I got a "Are you a hotter sorority girl than her?" With a picture of my pious, 55-year-old friend, Shirley.
]]>Also, how is it legal for me to grant a third party the legal right to use the photo of a second party? Wouldn't my friends have had to grant permission to these advertisers themselves?
]]>There'$ only one important i$$ue Facebook take$ $eriou$ly.
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The only problem with that method of opting out is that it only prevents your likeness from being used. You'll still be seeing your friends and spouse(s?) faces on Facebook's ads.
]]>I'd wager a guess that 80% of Facebook users don't know that everything they do on the site with apps is being used by marketers.
]]>@pwillow1: Turkish spam: a potted meat product with turkey-like qualities, but is not actually turkey.
]]>@Monk EyBeat:
ID, Full Name, gender, and age.
However, you can also give more information to some apps when they request extended permissions
]]>It turned out I had already shut off that privacy invasion but it was good to check and make sure ;-)
]]>Unfortunatly or Fortunatly they are just getting started with their differnt ways of advertising to thier users.
]]>In the marketing world this is just Genius... If people are willing to share their information they aren't doing anything but speaking for you I guess...
]]>I find it sort of amusing to see my ex girlfriend popping up in ads for "Sexy Singles in [my] area". I almost have her convinced that it's a sign that we need to get back together. :D
]]>You know, I was wondering why my friend Dan had taken such a keen interest to my financial well-being.
]]>To disable:
-Click on SETTINGS up at the top where you see the
Logout link.
-Select PRIVACY.
-Select NEWS FEEDS AND WALL.
-Next select the tab that reads FACEBOOK ADS (at top).
-There is a drop down box; select NO ONE.
-SAVE.
@PLATTWORX: I think George Michael would be okay if that happened to him.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: I mean, before facebook came to my campus, not that I was in college before facebook existed. I'm not that old :-P
]]>@ThinkerTDM: Kind of? I mean, before facebook came around, I talked a lot of my friends on IM so it still wasn't face to face since they were all at other colleges. We rarely talked on the phone, as we were all tethered to our computers anyway, doing homework and stuff. And on IM we didn't have to disturb other people with our conversations, and we could actually send each other photos and links and such. And group chat was FTW. Now that we're all out of college and busier than ever, and have real responsibilities, we use facebook messaging more because we're all busy at different times.
]]>@superberg:
In West Virginia, that's typical.
More detail: Go to the "Tools" menu and look for "AdBlock Plus Preferences" (you should also get there by clicking Ctrl-Shift-E).
In the window that opens, go to the "Options" menu and click on "Enable AdBlock Plus". The check mark next to it should disappear.
Then go to the Facebook Ads page. To turn AdBlock Plus back on, just put the check mark back next to "Enable AdBlock Plus".
Hope this helps.
]]>Do these advertisers go through people's pics and find people they think fit the description or are they random selections? Cuz some of them looked pretty deliberate....and that's just wrong IMO.
]]>@aguacarbonica: That's a good point! How did people "social network" before facebook? I guess people could leave their house, and actually talk to a live person...Ugh.
]]>In Canada there is some concern about the default facebook settings. Our privacy laws are not bad (at times) and I kind of agree that there are issues with the default settings. [www.cbc.ca]
Sorry if anyone has posted this already...
]]>Sleeze -- I thought I notified Consumerist a couple of months ago about this, but it might have been Jezebel
]]>But on the other hand, I've tracked down old friends that I thought were pretty much lost forever, so it does have it's cool moments.
]]>@highpitch_83
AND this hit Consumerist..... i think a month ago.. they are just re-reporting it....
or maybe it was another Gawker site.. either way.. they were ahead of the loop
]]>Thing is, I couldn't read it because it was in Turkish.
Neither my sister nor I speak Turkish. We do not have Turkish heritage. We've never even been to Turkey. (Although I get Turkish spam all the time.)
(Hmmm... "Turkish spam" sounds like a food dish.)
]]>It 's extremely obvious that the ad company is attempting to manipulate you into clicking their ads- and they're doing a really poor job because it doesn't even make sense to put a picture of your wife in an ad for hot singles. Drop the pretense of shock and horror- we all recognize these ads for what they are, lame attempts at marketing, and we all ignore them. They're harmless, and probably a waste of money.
I don't feel entitled to any sort of "rights" when I knowingly upload my information and pictures to a free, public, website... If you don't like it don't use it. Honestly I'm surprised that they even give you the option to disable it, and personally I won't bother.
]]>Side Note: I got both Airplane! and Super Troopers from netflix today. Will be a lulzy weekend.
]]>You know, this happened to me about a month ago. Facebook showed me a photo of one of the "HOT SINGLES" I could meet if I clicked on an ad for a dating service... The "hot single" was a COUSIN of mine from my friends list.. YIKES!
]]>@Adam Reimer: Correction: It's XFBML, not FBML. Small mistake.
]]>Actually, this should be said: Those ads are not served by facebook. Those ads are served by a third-party company (E.G: rockyouads, ect).
In all applications, even if your friends havent added that app, the developers of the application can still see the friends of that user.
So all they have to do is pull that array of friends, and then use FBML (FaceBook Markup Language) in the iframe to display the picture using fb:photo. E.G would display the photo of the user with the id of 12345.
So it's not facebook themselves, its the application platform being exploited by ad-serving companies.
]]>Be sure to disable any script/ad blocking add-ons before attempting to adjust this setting. Just like all of Facebook, that page is Firefox friendly.
]]>@Wolzard: You can, sure, but the it's not like they don't use those pictures in the ads. It just means you can't see them.
]]>Facebook = Failbook
]]>However, a friend of mine did get an add for "singles" in his area and they used his girlfriend's profile pic. Kinda funny, actually.
]]>@Wolzard: Yeah, it can, but then you get ads that show image errors (RED X FTL)
]]>Hey consumerist,
I sent you a number about 2 months ago for a Judy (wong?) at facebook advertising. This would be something to call her about ;)
]]>Facebook came and took ma piccys!
Atleast they give the option to tell them no, though.
]]>This can be disabled in your privacy settings.
]]>